


Tell Me You Won't Forget Us

by Jamesonlikethewhiskey



Series: And Perhaps Be Welcomed back Again [1]
Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Simple Plan (Band), The Academy Is...
Genre: Multi, a little less sixteen candles universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-20 10:38:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 47,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3647211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jamesonlikethewhiskey/pseuds/Jamesonlikethewhiskey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spring Break. Days off from school, left to wander shopping and going to concerts. This year, Spring Break is more like Warped has come back to town, being most of the team's favorite bands were playing the same city in a matter of days. It was chaos, and every alt/punk/rock fan girl's dream. Simple Plan. Panic! At The Disco. The Academy Is... Fall Out Boy. My Chemical Romance. Cobra Starship.</p><p>One city, an entire week of high energy once -in-a-lifetime concerts. But even then, there's secrets nobody knows about. Things nobody should know in the first place. And one night, sure, it might prove too much for Barrington High's all-star girls' cross-country team, but in the end, it'll only want to make them brave the Windy City's dark nights even more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_**I'll Never Let You Go (Don't Ever Forget)** _

_**Tell Me You'll Remember (Forever Young)** _

Adeline Jeanette Winters was sitting on her front porch in Barrington, looking over the schedule for the cross country's team meets taking place the rest of the semester. Hearing the front door open behind her, she turned to see her best friend Amelia Clearwater holding two bowls of French vanilla ice cream, maple syrup and cinnamon toast crunch topping it.

"Perfect. After this, we should totally go watch all the music videos…damn, I wanna try playing Addicted again. Maybe this time I won't fall off my amp."

"And maybe this time one of the guys'll tweet you back about that tattoo. You sure you wanna go get it tomorrow?"

"Come on, it needs time to heal before we see them! And maybe if we meet them – damn. I can't even."

"Then don't. But eat your ice cream, it's melting."

Both girls laughed.

Now that AJ was getting her tattoo the next day, and then they were seeing Simple Plan in Chicago in three more, their spring break of their senior year was going to be perfect.

* * *

Spring Break. Days off from school, left to wander shopping and going to concerts. This year, Spring Break is more like Warped has come back to town, being most of the team's favorite bands were playing the same city in a matter of days. It was chaos, and every alt/punk/rock fan girl's dream. Simple Plan. Panic! At The Disco. The Academy Is... Fall Out Boy. My Chemical Romance. Cobra Starship.

One city, an entire week of high energy once -in-a-lifetime concerts. But even then, there's secrets nobody knows about. Things nobody should know in the first place. And one night, sure, it might prove too much for Barrington High's all-star girls' cross-country team, but in the end, it'll only want to make them brave the Windy City's dark nights even more.

* * *

The girls varsity cross country team from Barrington High was spending the length of spring break in the Windy City, and entire group had split up to hit different stores and restaurants, agreeing to meet back up at the hotel at the end of the night.

Well, that would be if two of them didn't have a concert on their first night in town.

"COME ON COME ON COME ON WE GOTTA GO LIKE NOW NOW NOW!" AJ can't help the squeal, this concert's waited way too long to happen already.

"Geezus, calm down, we'll get there in no time."

"BA. RRI. ER. Do you hear me? I. NEED. Barrier."

"For who?"

"David, preferably, seeing as if I say Seb you're liable to claw my eyes out."

"I wouldn't do that!"

"You wait, we get there and I'm the one in front of him and not you? You're gonna flip. So I'll just be cool where ever really, doesn't matter 'cuz you're sticking with me, though I doubt the crowd'll be anything like the other shows we've gone to. No pit, atleast. Well….eh, that's debatable with Me Against The World. Shut Up and Thank You…still….LET'S GO!"

"Alright, alright, fine, we're going, we're going," Amelia concluded, laughing as the curly haired blonde took off of the porch, borderline screaming lyrics the two were bound to hear later that night.

_'Everytime you look my way It's like it all falls into place_

_Everything feels right But ever since you walked away_

_You left my life in disarray All I want is one more day_

_It's all I need: one more day with you…'_

Upon arriving at the Riviera, AJ went off and found her other friends, Marley and Meyong. Amelia stayed where she was and observed the people that were gathered in the lobby of the venue. There were lots of different kinds of people. Most of them appeared to be teenagers like herself. With a quick breath to calm her nerves, Amelia grabbed a deck of cards from her bag and walked over to a group of teens.

"Wanna see a magic trick?" she asked with a smile.

She did an amazing card routine that involved a signed card switching from her mouth to the spectator's mouth and vice versa.

"Oh my god, that was amazing! Do another one!" said a guy standing to her left and as Amelia turned to thank him, her jaw dropped in surprise because standing next to her was none other than Pierre Bouvier from the band Simple Plan, obviously he had time to kill before soundcheck, as it was still a good six hours before showtime.

Though momentarily star struck, Amelia quickly regained her composure and wowed the audience with more magic. She made coins disappear and reappear, read some minds, and even made a signed dollar bill appear inside of a lemon. Everyone was impressed by her sleight of hand.

When security finally let everybody onto the floor in the actual stage area, Amelia ran to go find AJ, who promptly dragged her towards the barrier, explaining her other friends had opted for balcony seats instead.

After two openers, a bottle of water and AJ talking nonstop for the last hour and a half, the boys finally bounded onstage, and both girls smiled as 'Shut Up' started, the crowd already getting into it.

This was going to be the best spring break ever. Even if nothing else but concerts happened - than again, given their luck; considering they were SP crew members, a few meet and greets might be in order if they hung around the buses long enough.

"If we have a chance to scan the ground as the crowds are leaving, do it. That's usual how people end up with guitar picks to sell on ebay." AJ mentioned, surprised Amelia could hear her over the crowd and the music.

"What makes you think I'd be crazy enough to sell anything we find tonight?"

"We're gonna need money next year, college is hella expensive!"

"It's spring break. Can we stop thinking about school for a few days and just enjoy ourselves? I mean, that's what we came here for isn't it?"

"I'll stop thinking about school when it's graduation day. Until then, yeah, I'll enjoy all this. All of this."

* * *

True to her thoughts, when Amelia and AJ finally made it back to the buses, there was already a line. Nothing to do but wait – oh wait.

Pulling out her phone, AJ loaded up the picture of her wrists – which, three days earlier had become decorated with Simple Plan lyrics from a song that had just been released about two weeks earlier.

'That I'm not alone;" read her left, and then 'That I'll never have to be.' Read the right, each in cursive with a small heart at the bottom of the writing on the right wrist.

After the picture had loaded, she grinned, tweeting it with the hashtag that had been set up for it - #tssml while at the same time tagging each of the guys.

When it finally was their turn to meet the guys, AJ's face hurt so hard because she was smiling so much.

Of the five though, immediately she found her gaze drawn to the bassist, David, who's eyeliner had smudged not quite as much as she's initially thought, although the way he was smiling coupled with the way his eyes almost invited her to get lost in them was certainly doing something as to how warm she suddenly felt.

Amelia, on the other hand, quite literally tripped trying to walk, and had barely enough time to stop the squeak of surprise when the guy she liked reached out a hand to keep her from falling.

"I'm A-Amelia." She never stuttered, how was it that she was now.

"It's nice to see those shirts, every show there's a few." Pierre said with a grin.

"It's just nice to finally be able to meet you guys. I've been tweeting you all day, and now to think I'm talking to you? It's great!" AJ chirped, holding her hands up just enough for the guys to notice her wrists.

"Hey, isn't that-" one of the guitarists, Jeff, started.

"Got it three days ago. Those lyrics just mean so much to me, you guys as a band mean so much – you have no idea what a difference you've made in people's lives."

She looked at David, who nodded, "Oh, I think we do. Thank you though, it's beautifully done, whoever the artist is did a great job!"

She could literally feel herself blush.

Amelia, meanwhile, looked up at who had caught her – and none to her surprise, Sebastien Lefebvre's blue eyes in pictures did no justice to seeing them in person.

"Your eyes are really pretty. Haha, Wow, I'm a dork. Usually I'm not all jittery like this. Seriously."

He smiled, "We're used to it. Seemed like you really like the show, benefit of being barrier and all – you're the front line. I think you caught a couple picks, didn't you?"

She shook her head, she'd been so close, but missed almost every one. AJ, on the other hand, had scanned every single spot of ground by them and managed to find like three of four.

"I just missed them," Amelia said, and immediately grinned as Seb reached into his pocket to grab a guitar pick that he hadn't used.

"Go on, after suffering through two openers and then being crammed against those bars for the better part of three hours, you deserve it!"

"Oh wow, thank you! This is awesome! And this was my first Simple Plan concert, too. I'll definitely come back when you guys are in town!"

She noticed how Seb gave Pierre a quick glance, who nodded after lightly smacking the drummer [Chuck]'s shoulder.

"Actually, if you two want, we're planning a special SP-crew only show tomorrow night down by Angel & Kings, they're got a small acoustic room there that'll fit maybe twenty people if you're lucky," Chuck explained.

Amelia looked at AJ, whose eyes lit up.

"Isn't that Pete Wentz' bar? You know, the guy from Fall Out Boy?"

Chuck nodded, "Come to think of it, I heard Fall Out Boy was talking about doing a surprise acoustic set after us, but I can't tell you any of that because you might run off to that fandom and spread the word," he said with a half-smirk.

"WE WON'T TELL ANYBODY! So tomorrow night at Angels and Kings? We'll be there in a heartbeat!"

Both girls said simultaneously, already freaking out at the thought of seeing Simple Plan not once, but twice in one week.

As the two girls went to walk back to their hotel on Rush Street where they were staying with a few of the girls on the cross country team, AJ checked her phone.

"Amelia. Amelia. AMELIA. HOLY FUCKING SHIT OH MY GOD!"

"What, what, what? Who died?"

"They- they favorited- Simple Plan favorite my tattoo tweet!"

"Awesome. Now, I think the hotel is that way-"

"I thought it was kitty corner from Ohio Ave? But then-"

It only took a few minutes for her to realize that she wasn't sure where they was going. She tried looking for someone to ask for directions, but she couldn't find anyone. The streets were surprisingly deserted.

"AJ - we're lost. And it's early in the morning, and we're not exactly in a good part of Chicago and we really need-" Amelia started before someone interrupted her.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked a voice from behind her.

Amelia jumped a foot in the air and spun around. When she did, she was shocked, because standing behind her was Simple Plan!

For a moment, she didn't know what to say. She tried to calm herself before replying, "Um, We're actually a little lost. We've been trying to get back to the hotel where we're staying."

"What hotel is it?" asked Sebastien.

Before Amelia could answer, she was cut off.

"Hey, I remember you! You were the girl who was doing magic at the Riviera a few hours before the show!" said Pierre.

"Oh yeah, you were awesome!" added David.

She blushed slightly and mumbled thanks. She told them where she and AJ were staying and the guys all agreed that they would help them find the way back.

Before the six of them could get too far, a voice exclaimed, "Well well well, what do we have here? Some freaks from Canada, a curly haired barbie and a cute little magician."


	2. Chapter 2

Amelia, AJ and the guys turned to face the voice and for the second time that night, Amelia was star struck. In front of them stood none other than Panic! at the Disco. There was something different, though. Amelia could sense a heavy presence. Something told her that whatever was about to happen wasn't good. At once, Sebastien and the others placed themselves in front of her.

"Brendon," Sebastien said, his voice laced with a dangerous tone.

"How do you do?" Brendon replied with a flourish and a bow.

"What are you doing here?" asked Chuck.

"Just enjoying the city, Mr. Comeau. Is that such a crime?" he asked with a smile.

Amelia's heart immediately dropped, because she could clearly see fangs in his mouth. What the hell was going on?

"Besides, we saw the girl doing magic at the Riviera and we were hoping she'd be willing to give us a private show. Why are you hiding, dear? Come out and say hello," Brendon said and the moment that she made eye contact with him, she felt the urge to walk towards him. As soon as she took a step, she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Sebastien, whose face was contorted in what could only be described as a snarl.

"Chuck, take the girls and get out of here," Sebastien said, his eyes trained on Brendon.

Chuck nodded. "Come on," he said as he grabbed Amelia's arm, who in turned grabbed for AJ.

"Oh now, but what's the fun in that? I was hoping you could show us some magic," Brendon said.

"I'm warning you right now, Urie, if you make one move towards her, I'm not going to hold back," Sebastien threatened.

Brendon merely smiled again. "Bring it on, furball."

All at once, the four of them came charging at the boys. Amelia and AJ watched as Pierre jumped and slammed his foot into the ground, causing a shockwave to ripple across the concrete. Brendon and the others were stopped temporarily. Meanwhile, Seb immediately went for Brendon. Amelia didn't get to see anything else before Chuck began dragging her behind him.

"Come on, we have to go!" he was yelling and the girls simply followed, unsure of what else to do.

Just as they were about to round the corner, Amelia felt a burning sensation in her lower calf. She screamed and looked down at her leg. A huge gash was running from the back of her knee to the heel of her foot. The sight of blood sickened her and she swooned slightly.

"Uh, Rae, we're not-" AJ started, nervousness starting to creep into her voice.

Before they could get any farther, one of the guys from Panic, Jon Walker, stood in front of Amelia and Chuck.

"Hey now, what's the rush? Why don't you guys stay awhile?" he suggested and both girls felt themselves wanting to stay.

As he closed in on the two of them, there was a flash of red, and suddenly Jon Walker slumped to the ground, apparently unconscious. Neither girl couldn't believe her eyes, because now, walking towards them was My Chemical Romance!

"Looks like you guys could use a little help," said Frank Iero, one of the guitarists.

Chuck nodded and they went to help Sebastien and the others.

The moment that Brendon saw Mikey Way and his friends, he stopped short.

"Wow, it's just like a big happy reunion! Haven't seen you guys in years!" he exclaimed as Frank shot a blast of fire at him, which he dodged.

"Brendon, you've broken about a dozen different treaty terms in about 10 minutes. If you don't want things to get any worse, I suggest you leave," Gerard said, his voice serious.

Brendon considered this for a moment. He knew that he was clearly outnumbered. If he was going to try and take on both Simple Plan and My Chemical Romance, he couldn't do it alone. He would need help. He held up his hands in mock defeat.

"Ay, but parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say goodnight, till it be morrow!" Brendon replied and with that, he called off his friends and the four of them disappeared into the night.

Chuck looked at Amelia, who was staring, transfixed. She looked pale, so he led her towards a curb and sat down next to her.

"Here, let me help you with your leg," he offered and Amelia nodded, feeling sick.

He moved his hand and opened something that was hanging at his side. A stream of water came out and he manipulated the water and placed it onto her bleeding leg. At once, the wound on her leg closed up.

"What the fuck is going on? We just came here for concerts, not - we could've gotten killed!" AJ yelled, more confused than anything, though she wasn't completely sure anyone was even listening.

Mikey walked up to Sebastien.

"What the hell was that all about?" he demanded.

"They attacked us, so we had to try and stop them," Sebastien replied.

"That's all very well, but what about the girls? Who are they? What is they doing here?" Gerard asked.

"We were trying to help them find the way back to their hotel. They were lost and then Brendon and his goons showed up," David explained.

"Dammit, this ruins everything we've worked so hard to protect!" Mikey exclaimed as he ran his fingers through his hair angrily.

"We have to go. We need to reconvene. Bob, call Patrick and let him know what happened tonight," Gerard instructed and Bob nodded, pulling out his phone.

"What about the girls? We can't just leave them here," Jeff said.

"We will escort them back to the hotel and then we'll forget about them. We have far more important things to do than babysit," Mikey replied.

"Now wait just a minute. We can't just leave them, Mikey. They knows too much and - " Sebastien started before Mikey cut him off.

"That's exactly why we need to leave them. They're too much of a liability now."

"But Mikey," Pierre started, but Mikey silenced him with a glare.

"The answer is no, and that's final. We need to go now," Gerard said as they began walking away.

All of the boys in Simple Plan shared a look, both Chuck and Seb shrugging, knowing challenging Gerard's word was useless.

"Come on, we'll get you back to your hotel. And don't forget about tomorrow night, meet us at Angels & Kings. We might be able to explain some of what happened tonight, given Gerard and Mikey won't be around." Jeff said, helping Amelia up.

She nodded, "Good. I think I just need sleep - maybe if I wake up this'll all just be a bad dream."

When the girls woke up the next morning, Amelia told AJ to not say anything to the others about what had happened. As usual, this wasn't the case.

"So basically we met MCR, Panic and Simple Plan last night," AJ told the group as they sat in one of the dining rooms eating breakfast.

Marley snorted.

"Shut up, you literally only went to Simple Plan last night. How-"

"AJ, you forgot to mention Brendon had fangs." Amelia deadpanned, curious to see the reaction.

"FANGS?" Myeong can't help herself, if anything it's just like the Sixteen Candles video coming to life. And they are in Chicago, though.

"They probably were just those ones you can pop in and out, you know how he likes the costumes and such from their music videos," Marley added, to which Amelia nodded.

"So tonight, are you two busy? When we met Simple Plan last night they told us they're doing a special SP-Crew only show tonight at Angels & Kings, and, uh, maybe another band might show up."

"FALL OUT BOY?!" Myeong is about to bounce of the walls with excitement.

"Well, duh, it's Pete's bar, so-"

"But don't you and Marley have the TAI show?"

"That's tomorrow night, numbnuts."

"Love you too!"

Amelia laughed, it was known AJ and Myeong could get quite heated over their favorite bands at times.

"So I figure today we can just bum around and shop until we need to go to Angels & Kings, sound good? Between the four of us, I don't think we'll ran out of money."

Myeong giggled, "Aren't Rose and Xena supposed to come up for Panic though? Who cares, just give me Fall Out Boy. Well, and about Angels & Kings tonight, I don't think I'm gonna go. Might ruin the magic of seeing FOB later this week."

"Suit yourself - and they're only coming up for that show, they said they can't afford to spend all week up here. And then it turns out Aileen can't make the Cobra show, she ended up selling her ticket."

"Work is a bitch," AJ mumbled, knowing that was the reason the group's lovable, crazy Puerto-Rican friend wasn't joining them.

"But yeah, shopping sounds great! Let's go!"

* * *

Late that night, AJ and Amelia made their way down State Street to find Angels and Kings. At seeing a large number of SP-Crew t-shirts, the girls knew they'd found the right place.

After Simple Plan's set however, Fall Out Boy did end up showing up for a surprise set for the forty some people that had packed into the venue. When people started leaving to go back home and to their hotels, AJ noticed she felt compelled to stay, and remembering what the boys had said at the last meet and greet, she told Amelia.

"You really think we should stay? We don't want to get kicked out because we're under age and all..."

"I'll just say we're VIP, something like that."

"Like that ever works."

Of course, not five minutes later both the SP and FOB boys seem to be scanning the crowd, and when AJ catches David pointing at her she realizes something's up.

"They mean us. Told you so." AJ stuck her tongue out, but just as Amelia went to smack her for it, she found Pete motioning to them, to move to the sidestage near where she assumed was the backstage entrance. Grabbing AJ's shoulder, she began to weave through the still dispersing crowd.

Finding the door, Amelia smiled - she'd been right. Ducking through it, it seemed like a little green room, with a few couches and a mini fridge. Before she had time to wonder why they'd been called there, both Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz came into the room from the other side of the stage.

"Great show tonight, guys. I just have one question, well, actually a lot-" AJ started, but Patrick held up his hand.

"We're aware, Sebastien told us you two have been exposed to...well...the situation."

"Situation? Geez, Patrick, don't make it sound so bad!" Pierre called, walking in, the rest of Simple Plan following behind him.

"Have you not seen the fights lately? It's bad. Neverminding Urie and his goons, but still!" Seb protested.

"Fights? And Brendon had fangs last time I saw him - don't tell me this is like a video from a certain band in this room..." Amelia wondered, head spinning.

To her surprise Pete laughed.

"Seems you're quicker than we thought. Fact is, this town's pretty much not human after dark." Both girls laughed, but stopped when neither boy's expressions changed.

"He's serious." Jeff said, though AJ still shook her head.

"What, not human, like the Sixteen Candles vid? Like, vampires and everything?" she tried, eyes lighting up. If there was even the mere notion that the video was real - oh, what she wouldn't do to be a Dandie!

"Well..." Pete sighed, turning to Patrick, "Think we should tell them? It's not like they're gonna go running off to Beckett and the rest."

"Please tell me you're just talking about that series of concerts that's this week...because y'know TAI's in town as well and all," Amelia threw in, hoping AJ wouldn't freak out if it in fact was another situation all together.

"Oh, those concerts aren't what you think they are, believe us. There's a bigger reason we're all in town. Summit meeting, if you'd put it that way." Chuck explained.

"Summit meeting? My head hurts..." AJ complained, thoroughly confused.

"All these bands are in town because it's a conference weekend - we just didn't realize it might startone of the biggest ticking time bomb this city's ever seen, that's all. Basically, us, My Chemical Romance, and Simple Plan are holding this giant meeting to figure out how to deal with the vampires that keep popping up around here. The concerts are just a cover." Patrick explained.

At the word vampire, both girls mouths dropped open.

"So it is like the video?" Amelia asked, dumbstruck.

"Which means the Dandies exist. Which means William is the-" AJ started excitedly, only to have Amelia's hand go over her mouth to cut her off.

"But what about the others? Cobra Starship, The Academy Is..., and I think Panic! At The Disco are in town as well..." she trailed off, before Pete picked up.

"They're the ones you've gotta look out for. The Dandies. They're the worst ones we've come across - and your friend isn't wrong when she says he's the leader. Son of a bitch bit me." Pete spat, grimacing at the memory.

"Wa-wait...The Academy Is...are legitly Dandies? Give me a minute, I think my head just exploded. But if William's the leader, shouldn't they not be able to-"

"If you're going with typical vampire myth here, stop. They're all day walkers, which is why they can still perform and such. Garlic doesn't bother them, either. If you're also going to go typical fan girl, stop. Looking in a Dandie's eyes will be the worst mistake of your life, because they'll wipe your memory before they drain you dry."

AJ smiled, "And you know that how?"

Patrick shrugged as if it were an everyday occurrence, "You know how many girls we've seen Beckett leave shows with over the years? They're never seen from again."

This only caused her to giggle, which made both boys look at her worriedly, "Great. One of them."

"One of who? I've just got backstage passes, that's all. What's the worst that'll happen? It's not like I'm going to end up wrapped up in his arms in some bar getting drugged off my ass. I'd think others would notice."

"Just do me a favor and don't underestimate a Dandie's mental abilities. Seeing as it seems you're going to get yourself in trouble despite our warnings," Pierre continued.

AJ nodded, "I just don't see what the problem is, that's all. I mean -honestly I'd love to be a vampire. I think I'd fit in just fine with the D-"

Amelia slapped a hand over AJ's mouth as the emotion in Pete's eyes changed, "Well, if you guys want help with anything, we're in. Well, I am. Being a vampire hunter like you guys were in the video would be awesome. Do any of you have paper so I can write down my-"

"Already done. Here. If you guys ever find yourself in trouble at those concerts, call. We'll be there." Patrick said, handing Amelia a business card, two numbers written on it.

"First one is my cell, second is the headquarters we have set up. If you guys want, we can get you set up with weapons and stuff if you'd want to come down and check it out. Thanks for wanting to help out, although I can't guarantee anything'll happen, or that you'll be safe for long." Patrick said, smiling.

Amelia nodded, "No problem. I'll call you sometime tomorrow? I've got some things to do tonight, but I'm free all day tomorrow. And AJ's got that concert tomorrow night with some of her other friends, so..."

"Don't forget us!" David chimed in, already pulling out his phone, "Hell, I already favorited your tweet, might as well follow you."

If AJ hadn't been sitting she probably would have fainted at the mere mention that David Desrosiers was going to follow her on twitter.

"There, now atleast one of us can DM you to keep you updated on things."

"Merci beaucoup!" Holy hell, AJ's voice jumped an octave in excitement, checking her own phone just to make sure it was real.

"Does she-" Pierre started as Amelia rolled her eyes, "Don't worry - she's fluent. But yeah, we'll help you guys out, anytime. We should probably get going back to our hotel now, our other friends will wonder what's taking so long."

"Alright, thanks - it all sounds good." Pete said, offering Amelia his hand as she got up, pulling AJ along with her.

"Nice meeting you guys."

"You too."


	3. Chapter 3

When Amelia and Adeline were finally out of earshot, Amelia turned to the younger girl.

"You can't just say you'd fit in well with the coven that destroyed Pete's life when he's right in front of you!"

"But Amelia, I didn't say that. I only said-"

But before she could her sentence however, AJ's cell phone rang.

"Hello? Oh hey Marley! Yeah, I know, we gotta be down at the Riviera by 7 tomorrow I think? Yeah. I'm heading back to the hotel now with Amelia, are you gonna meet us? Sure, why the fuck not? Yeah. Yep. See ya, Santi."

Of course, a call like that meant AJ and Marley were going to do something in the late hours of the night, probably midnight bowling back at the hotel, which left Amelia by herself, again. As AJ raced off back to the hotel, Amelia decided to walk back to Angels & Kings, walking back into the bar to find both Mikey Way and Sebastien taking shots.

"That's something I'd never thought I'd see in my life." she commented with a grin as she suddenly felt bold enough to walk up and take the stool besides Seb, who had been laughing about something Mikey had said.

"You really think it's a good idea to go look at the hideout tonight, man? I mean - Patrick and the others just left."

"But by the time these wear off we'll be- hey, look, it's the magician you decided to save a few nights ago...what brings you here, princess? Can't stay out of trouble?" Mikey joked, turning to look at Amelia who bit her lip, unsure of what to say.

"AJ ran off on me to go play pool or darts with Marley, figured I'd come back here. So yeah, Patrick kinda told me everything, dropped a bomb on me. I don't know what to believe anymore. And then, Seb, what the hell do you mean by hideout?"

"Well, those of us involved in this conference need a place to plan and train that's out of the public eye, so it's self-explanatory, really. I don't suppose you'd feel like visiting?"

Amelia shrugged, "Well, I would like to talk to you all more about this - I'm still so confused and without AJ around I think I can focus a bit more of what's going on, otherwise she' rambling on about Beckett and the Dandies, you should have heard her on the way back to hotel-"

"And you should have heard Pete when he left," Mikey added, "Clearly doesn't like the kid, at all."

Seb looked at Mikey, "Well I guess we could show her the hideout, it's not like-"

"Are. You. Crazy? You just met her last night and now- ugh, fine. But don't get upset at me when she dies." Setting the shot glass back down on the counter, Mikey got up and steadied himself.

"Come on, you want to show her it, let's go."

After a few minutes of walking, the three of them came to an abandoned building. Mikey knocked on the door three times with a series of taps. The door opened and there stood Patrick.

"We've been expecting you. Come in," he said as he ushered them inside.

He took them to a back room that was filled with several chairs and two couches. Amelia sat down next to Sebastien and realized the rest of Simple Plan and Fall Out Boy were there, along with My Chemical Romance.

"She just wanted to see the hideout, and she's still really confused about the whole thing with the conference and all," Seb explained. Patrick looked at Amelia, surprised to notice that she was there.

"Hey, I remember you! You and your friend went with us to Angels and Kings today. It's Amelia, right?"

She nodded.

"She's Sebastien's new pet," Mikey scoffed from where he was seated across the room.

Seb glared at Mikey.

"Seriously, Mikey, what's your problem?" Sebastien asked as he stood up and looked Mikey square in the eye.

"What's my problem? What's my problem? My problem, Seb, is that you've brought some stupid girl into this when we have no idea that we can trust her! She's just going to end up complicating things unnecessarily, not to mention her friend that seems completely enamoured with the Dandies," Mikey replied, pushing off of the wall that he was leaning against to stare Sebastien down.

Not wanting to cause any more trouble, Amelia stood up and tried to make her way out of the room.

"Sit back down. You're not going anywhere," Seb said, his eyes trained on Mikey.

"Honestly Seb

.,ou've known hundreds of mortals in your years. What makes this one any different? She's puny and doesn't look like much of a fighter, so why keep her around?"

"I don't koow. There's something different about her. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about her that tells me she's worth keeping around," Seb shrugged.

Mikey scoffed again. He moved away from Sebastien and instead stood in front of Amelia. Amelia was visibly freaked out and started shaking.

"And what do you have to say for yourself, Amelia?" he said as he sneered at her.

She stared up at him, trembling.

"W-well, I-I don't appreciate the fact that you're so quick to villainize me. It's not like I woke up this morning and asked to be suddenly thrust into this supernatural world. You know, I could have gone the rest of my life without knowing that vampires actually exist, so thanks for that, Patrick. Furthermore, -" she started before Mikey cut her off.

"I don't see why you're freaking out. There are things much worse than vampires out there. There are demons that know curses that can melt your flesh off your face, there are ogres that will grind your bones to a fine powder and then eat you whole."

"Stop it, Mikey, you're scaring her!" Sebastien said, but Mikey continued to talk.

"There are ghosts and ghouls, zombies, even werewolves," he continued as he snapped his teeth at her and gently touched her hair.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Amelia finally yelled. She thrust her hands out to try and push Mikey away.

To the surprise of Amelia and everyone else in the room, when she did this, the water that was in glasses on the table seemed to respond to her motion. It formed a stream and actually managed to knock Mikey back a couple of steps.

For a moment, the room was entirely silent. Amelia still trembled. What the hell had she just done? Her hands were shaking so violently that the water on the ground danced and sputtered in a staccato rhythm.

"Wow, she's a Waterbender, and from what I just saw, a damn powerful one!" Chuck said, smiling in appreciation.

Amelia didn't know whether she wanted to laugh or cry. Everything that had happened to her in the last few hours was so impossible. She didn't know what to believe anymore. She took a step and stumbled. She would have hit the ground had Sebastien not caught her. He sank to the ground and laid her head in his lap.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, looking down at her.

She laughed. "I'll be okay. I just can't believe everything that's happened."

After taking a moment to collect herself, she sat back down on the couch.

"Have you always been able to do that?" Patrick asked

Amelia shook her head. "No, but now that I think about it, it really doesn't surprise me. I'm a swimmer and I've always had a liking for the water. Whenever I'm in the water, I feel at home, you know? Like that's where I'm supposed to be."

"I know exactly how you feel," Chuck said, being a Waterbender himself.

Mikey made his way over to Amelia, who flinched. Instead, he thrust out his hand and she shook it.

"I want to apologize for how I was acting earlier. That was pretty impressive. With some training, you'll be a great Waterbender. You can stay."

Amelia nodded.

"Well, now that that is taken care of, how should we proceed?" Gerard asked

"I'd suggest we finish this as soon as we can. We need to take down William and his coven and do it before any more innocent girls get dragged into this," Patrick said and everyone nodded in agreement.

* * *

The next night, after TAI's concert at the Riviera, Marley and AJ were waiting somewhat impatiently for their meet and greet with the boys.

Marley sighed, still unsure if the whole backstage pass thing was for real, and AJ had told her about the entire Dandies thing and that had really freaked her out.

"What are you all worried about? Mar, it's fine. All we do is flash these, and -bam- instant VIP status. You don't look so good."

She laughed, trying to shake off the nerves, "I'm fine. How are you convinced you're not going to faint? The minute he says hi to you, you're going to drop to the floor."

"Will not!"

"Bet."

"Y'know what, whatev- oh god, here th-" instantly the blonde stood a little straighter and fixed her bangs, anything to pretend she was preoccupied with anything but the approaching rock stars.

Marley rolled her eyes, "Man, you don't waste any time, do you?"

Within minutes however, both Marley and AJ found themselves in front of the band whose songs they'd been singing all night. Surprisingly, neither girl fainted liked they'd always thought they would.

"So, you two are the lucky ones tonight, I guess. Being the only ones smart enough to stick at the back of the venue instead of crowding the blockades by the buses," Mike Carden mused, both girls nodded.

"Define lucky...like, we get more pictures than the rest or something?" Marley wondered, sticking her hands absentmindedly in her jean pockets.

"Not exactly. More like...you guys get the inside look at some of Chicago's best hang spots...you're of age, right?"

AJ nodded, reaching for the ID she'd had made freshman year in Vegas. It was fake, but it let her get around.

"You're inviting us out to drink? You hardly know us," Marley protested, already sensing the danger in the situation.

Her breath caught as the band member she liked most - Adam Siska, the bassist,- stepped forward.

"It's not every night we run into fans that question it. Normally they just," he shrugged, as if to make a point, before he looked directly at Marley and grinned, "Go along with it."

The minute he'd looked at her, Marley had looked back into those green eyes and had the momentary fleeting thought of listening to whatever he said, as long as she could stay by him.

"So? I think we'd all enjoy each other's company, even if we may be strangers. And besides...it's not like we're a boy band and we'd be 'attacked' so to say the moment we stepped outside," William pointed out, noticing how AJ had shifted on her feet, obviously contemplating the offer, "And we'd hate to leave you two when it just seems like this night could just be getting started."

AJ grinned, turning to Marley before looking back at William, "Screw it, I'm in. And geez, how rude of us...I'm Adeline Jeanette, most people just call me AJ."

In turn she elbowed Marley, who managed to stutter out a ,"M-Marley Collins."

"There, now that we know your names, you're not strangers anymore," the tattooed drummer, whom everyone called the Butcher, said.

"Come on...it's getting late, we should be going. Before one of them shows up just to see how things are." Carden pressed, already turning to walk away, the others beginning to follow.

AJ turned to Marley, "I guess this means we're going drinking? With like, only the men in our wildest dreams. I should probably call one of the girls to let them know where we're gonna be at."

Marley nodded, "Yeah, you call Amelia, I'll text Meyong, god knows what she's doing."

Both girls laughed, walking after the band.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time the seven had walked into a rather loud and busy bar, AJ couldn't wait to use her fake id.

"So, what did you mean by one of them, Mike? Is there a group of fans following you guys everywhere or something?" Marley started, obviously curious although she already knew the entire band were vampires.

"They're not exactly fans," William stated, turning around from the counter, drink in hand, "Get whatever you two would like, it's on us."

AJ immediately grinned, "A glass of Merlot, hey Marley, what d'ya-"

"Whatever you're having."

The bartender rose an eyebrow at the pair, clearly noticing they didn't seem to be of drinking age.

"Girls, before I can get your drinks, I'll need to see your identification-" he'd began, before the blond Australian lead guitarist spoke, waving his hand in front of the bartender's face, "You don't need to see their identification."

This was repeated by the bartender, which made AJ slap her forehead in realization.

"And I thought that only worked in Star Wars." she mumbled in amazement, half jokingly as she realized William was watching her.

"So what brought you girls to the show tonight?" he asked, smiling as the bartender passed both girls glasses of wine.

"It's spring break, and we're all on this cross country team. We're spending two weeks here in Chicago, mostly because of all the concerts. You guys, Panic at The Disco, Cobra Starship-" Marley rattled off.

"And Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, and Simple Plan?" Sisky threw in, knowing where the conversation was heading.

"Yep, pretty much. There's a whole bunch of us, I think there's twelve of us all together. We're all staying at this hotel on Rush Street, in three rooms. It's kinda nice, being away from the parents and all. And we're all single, so this is double time scouting, and the fact that AJ can speak French makes it pretty easy to find someone." Marley explained.

"Scouting? You make that sound as though you're looking for something." William continued, to which AJ nodded, half-heartedly deciding to test what Pete and Patrick had told her, "Well, we are - we're hunters, but not after your kind."

At this, the five seemed to freeze, eyes widened and hands lowered glasses mid-drink.

William only smiled, setting his drink down on the bar, "So you two are luckier than we imagined. It's not every night we ran across girls that know what we really are, ones that leave the entire comparison to Twilight alone once the secret's known." And with this came a smile that only confirmed her fears, the fangs were real.

"You expected us to run away? If anything, I'm staying with you guys until I find out why exactly Fall Out Boy is after you guys - and just why Pete Wentz absolutely hates you." AJ responded, standing a little straighter, the half glass she'd already drank making her feel a little braver.

She felt her cheeks flame up in a blush as William set his hand on top of hers, as if to say he was okay with her sticking around, but then Michael spoke up.

"So how'd you find out what we are, if you and your mates are from out of town?"

AJ sighed, "First a friend and I saw Brendon Urie, and he had fangs. Then we ended up meeting Fall Out Boy and they kinda told us the situation with you guys, but I think I pissed him off because I said I'd rather be a dandie than a hunter."

Carden laughed, "Good choice too, because we've got this city under control. Those pesky hunters think they can outmatch us, sure. When it's this time of year for the conferences, they should know better than to stay out of our way."

"What's the worst that'll happen?" Marley wondered, downing the rest of her wine, signaling the bartender for another.

"The usual. Buildings get ruined, dust and debris get kicked up, clothes get dirty. Looks like some of us are really injured, but it doesn't really hurt us. In the hunter's case, if we can injure them, there's blood, but no-one's died yet. Then, if they run off with their tails between their legs, we go out drinking like we are now, looking for girls like you to bring home for the night." Butcher explained.

AJ's eyes lit up and she grinned, turning to make the one mistake Patrick had warned her about not doing.

"Looking in a Dandie's eyes will be the worst mistake of your life, because they'll wipe your memory before they drain you dry," his voice ran in her back of her head, but hell, it was too late already.

The moment William's gaze caught hers, any intent of going back to the hotel for the night was gone. They had said they looked for girls to take home, and her she was, already drinking and determined to not go home - well, back to the hotel at least.

"And there we go - you weren't kidding about not being a hunter...your thoughts say quite the opposite, Adeline. I'll take it you'll be joining us tonight?"

She nodded, "As long as I don't get turned, I'm fine. I've got friends that would murder me. Doesn't mean I'm not up for -" she threw a sideways glance at Marley, who was busy talking to Sisky, "other stuff."

William almost smiled - who would have thought that throughout the conference week, he actually would have someone that was willing to come back with him, not that he couldn't just manipulate her into it anyways.

"And your friend?"

Marley finally looked over towards the two, smiling and laughing, clearly the alcohol was taken its effects.

"Can one of y-you take me back to the hotel? I shouldn't be out walking like this."

AJ rolled her eyes, of course Marley wanted to go home, geez, she needed to live a little.

"MARLEY! Come on! Live a little! If I let you go back to the hotel - I swear, if you snitch on what I'm doing tonight to the others - especially Amelia, I'll murder you. Like, not even the Criminal Minds team could find your body." she blonde threatened, glaring.

"Fine, fine, I won't tell anyone. I just think it's better if we don't get involved in all this vampire non-" she stopped short as Sisky handed her the drink the bartender had poured for her and he cut in.

"Shame you can't stay awhile...it's not like we're going to kill you two right away. Of course, that's even debatable. Now, if you could live forever, what would you live for?"

AJ nearly choked on her drink, he'd referenced the worst possibly vampire movie in a situation like this. Even William had noticed, and with a sigh, gave Sisky a look that point blank said, 'Really?'.

"Moments like this. Fuck it, I'm in." Marley decided, laughing as she looked and AJ and nodded, but from the corner of her eye, she could see a couple of other vampires come in through the hazy door. Choosing to ignore them, she tunes back into the interesting story William was recalling about the time he was in the same bar and was drunk as hell. The story was getting to a great climax until the two vampires stood by Marley's side.

"Look at this one mate," one with a shaved head sneers, licking the corner of his lips where a ring hung in tightly. "She looks good. Smells good too. Wanna take a bite?"

"I don't know... Think she taste as good as she looks?"

Marley swallows the lump in her delicate throat and squeaks out, "Go away, you're being annoying."

They both laugh and the shaved head vampire tugs at the loop of her pants, pulling her closer to him. She could smell the strong smell of alcohol on his tight black shirt (probably some cheap whiskey, considering they put off the image of being poor scumbags).

"They're with us, back off." William is to the point, glaring at the newcomers as both girls scoot a little closer to his men.

The other one rolls his eyes, pushing back Marley, who almost falls down. AJ quickly grabs her, reassuring her through harsh whispers. The shaved head vampire and his friend face him, with a clear smirk on their faces, fists ready to make into contact with soft pale skin.

"Does it matter to me that they're with you? Does it look like I care? Look, if I want something, I'll get it-"

"Wait, did I ask you what you wanted? No. This isn't your turf, just leave them alone."

"No, no, it's not going down like that," he scoffs, taking off his leather jacket. The other vampire laughs and cracks his knuckles. "Not until I taste that pretty little gal, along with her friend. Maybe if they shut up quick too, we can more get than that, huh?"

Without any hesitation for the two men to make another filthy remark, William crushes his fingers into a tight fist, pulls back, and lands a punch right onto the man's mouth.

AJ and Marley watch as a fang flies out and into another man's drink, amazed at the swift and strong punch that such a lanky vampire could pull off! The other vampire jumps in and begins to land uppercuts along his sharp jaw, but gets pushed back and receives the same punishment as his friend.

"Here we go again...these punks never quit. When are people going to learn to not mess with us?" Carden states, jumping into it, Michael and Sisky coming to his aid.

Before the girls realize anything that's happening, alcohol is spilling and the smell of blood fills the air.

"Fuck...I'm not careful, am I?" AJ laughed, biting back a scream as yet another drop of alcohol hit the gashes, pulling shards of a broken glass from her palm, already feeling a black eye coming on.

"No, you're no- DUCK!" Marley yelped, but it had been too late, and the vampire that had lost one of his fangs had let another punch go, being lucky enough to have his fist connect with AJ's nose.

"I...fucking...HATE...I think it's broke..." she whimpered as blood poured out of her nose, her already bloodied hand coming beneath her nose in an attempt to save her clothes from being stained.

A bar stool lands on the man's back, piercing the side of his waist, all at the same time that William grabs a nearby of Jack Daniel's and smashes it over the punk's head. The combination of splitters, spilling whiskey, and William's punches is enough to make the punk insane. Weakness overcomes him and William notices it, but continues. The overwhelming anger that had consumed his mind was almost animalistic, barely even comprehensible to him. Sisky comes in and pulls him off, noticing that enough is enough.

"Alright man, I'm pretty sure this asshole got what he deserved; let's ditch this place before the hunters show up."

Without noticing if the boys had followed, AJ and Marley quickly leave the bar as soon as possible. AJ holds her shirt to her nose, with Marley rubbing her back and trying to keep her calm. William notices her face twisted in pain and goes by her side.

"Adeline, I'm so sorry, that idiot was just picking on the wrong girl... Are you okay?"

"Yeah... Yeah... No. Not really. I'm bleeding out of my nose you know, just got punched by a man. Never have I ever been punched by a man, but yeah! First time for everything!"

William chuckles at her sarcasm, but still studies her nose. "You'll be fine, it doesn't seem broken. When we get back to my place, we can check it better."

She grabs his hands, flinching at how cold he was, studying his cut knuckles, filled with shards of glass and dried blood. "Whoa! You really went to town on this guy. Will you be okay?"

"Oh this?" He looks down simply. "Doesn't even hurt!" He sends a reassuring smile to her. She sighs and looks at Marley, who is smiling with a tint of pink on her cheeks.

"We just were in a bar fight and you're smiling like this was the best first date you've ever been on."

"That's because it is. Did you not hear him imply we're going back to their place?"

AJ only bit her lip and tried to not let her thoughts wander.

By the time AJ, Marley and the boys had made it back to TAI's residence – which turned out to be a large mansion right in the middle of the city, AJ had realized tonight couldn't get any better, minus the bar fight.

"I'm truly sorry about that, normally the lesser scum of this town know to not get into it with us. Come on, I'll help you get cleaned up."

She nodded, holding a hand to her nose, which had finally stopped bleeding. She winced, knowing her eye was bruised. William only put his arm around her and gestured down the hall.

"Fifth door to the right, there's a closet next to it with towels and shampoo and such, we'll get you that, then it's to the shower." he murmured, looking back to toward the others.

Marley grinned, "You do know she's tipsy as hell, right? That shower's an invitation to-"

She fell quiet once she realized William was smiling, a certain look in his eyes.

"I'm not stupid; I know what she expects, even if I'm only offering to help get the blood and alcohol off her. If I'm right, Adam is hoping you'd be up for the same."

Marley turned to look at the youngest member of the band.

"Hey, it's been awhile, okay? And you're sure pretty…"

"Just don't kill me, and maybe I'll sleep with you. It's not every day I find out my favorite band are vampires, a fact, which I believe, is sexy as hell."

Sisky smiled, "C'mon, I'll show you my room. What time d'ya have to be back at your hotel tomorrow?"

Their voices faded down the hall, leaving William and AJ with the others. He nodded, as if making up his mind.

"Tonight was great, guys. Go get some rest – I have a feeling the conference week is only getting started." And as his men began to head to separate rooms for the night, he smiled, looking at the blond, who was staring at the floor, still in shock after the fight.

If Adeline had truly said she'd rather be a Dandie than a hunter, he could make that happen. A female Dandie would certainly throw those hunters off. Smiling, William led AJ down the hall.

"Ow…ow…" AJ complained and winced slightly as she held a warm wash cloth to her eye, knowing it wouldn't do any good. But maybe, maybe, she could pretend she hadn't been in the middle of a bar fight in spring break in Chicago.

Getting out and wrapping herself in a towel, AJ smiled as she inspected herself in the mirror, blonde curls soaking wet as steam clouded her reflection and kept her from shivering. Finding an ace bandage on the sink, she wrapped her hand with it and hummed the opening song from the concert earlier that night.

"My, my, my…doll, how'd you get here? I don't remember inviting such a pretty girl in tonight…" a soft voice murmured, a body pulling her closer, still keeping the towel around her.

She shuddered, gulped – great – she'd fallen into the exact trap Patrick had warned her about. On second thought - how the hell had he gotten in the room without her hearing the door open?

"Now what's your name, sweetheart?" William pressed, one hand moving to her hip, the other tracing her cheekbones with his thumb.

Was he just playing dumb, forgetting everything at the bar, solely to turn her on? She wasn't sure, but the heat she felt rushing to her cheeks only confirmed it. How hard was it to say her name?

"A-A-Adeline."

William gave a small laugh; it might as well have been a sigh. For the second time that night, she looked at him, and suddenly her mind seemed to have left her. She only knew she was with him – and there wasn't anywhere else in the world she wanted to be.

"Now, that can't be it, darling. You speak French, darling, you must have more than one name," he continued, turning her toward him, brushing curls out of her eyes.

"A-Adeline J-J-Jeanette."

He smiled, kissing her forehead, "That's better. Now, doll, I'll bet you're tired after that concert tonight…" he trailed off, watching her eyes flicker with desire as he motioned to the bedroom across the hall.

"William…that is what you invited me here for, isn't it? I mean, the bar – I figured, get me drunk, yeah – then bring me back here and take advantage of me."

Without a word, William leaned in and took her lips with his own, feeling her stumble back in surprise against the sink.

When he pulled back, she blinked shyly and bit her lip, gazing up at him from under thick, dark eyelashes, batting them ever so slightly.

"Hush. There's no need for you to speak as though you knew my intentions. You're no whore, you'll not be treated as such," he reasoned, she nodding as he turned her head, placing light kisses along her neck, feeling her shiver slightly against him, although the room was still steamy.

"Easy, Adeline. I won't hurt you. Look at me."

She didn't move, and for a moment William wondered if she was expecting him to kiss her again.

He tipped her chin up and grinned, revealing his fangs, "Come now, look at me."

She didn't move, instead, she whispered something that took him by surprise.

"Make me."

In one move, William's hand was carefully around her throat, careful to not hold her too tightly. Her breathing hitched and her eyes widened, he noticed her pupils dilating with lust. He added just enough pressure to cause her to gasp, but then he kissed her ear, murmuring, "Don't test me, Adeline. It would be in your better interests to listen to me."

She nodded, shivering as he let go, giggling as she dove for the door, disappearing across the hall.


	5. Chapter 5

Myeong ran to the door to open it just as Amelia managed to get the door open.

"Please tell me AJ and Marley are back." was the first thing out of her mouth, and when she shook her head Amelia gave a heavy sigh and flopped onto the bed closest to her.

"You have no idea how much danger they're in. Have you tried texting or calling them?"

"Yeah, they said they were going for drinks with TAI..."

"That's what AJ told me, but it's past one am and all the bars are close to closing and they're not here. You see where I'm going with this?"

"Vampires, right?" Myeong giggled, still not believing their vacation had somehow turned into Twilight.

"It's worse than I thought. That's why I'm so late, I literally got caught in this - I don't even know. All I know is that I'm on the good side of things," Amelia admitted.

"But why are you worried about AJ and Marley then? They're fine."

"You - gah, you're completely...They're. With. The. Most. Dangerous. Vampires. In. This. CITY! And with the way AJ's been talking about Beckett, I think she's going to get herself killed."

"Theoretically, she'd die, yeah, but she'd still be living." Amelia stared, wide eyed at the taller's response.

"Please. Don't go there...I don't need to think of my best friend as a blood sucking monster...let alone knowing who would be the one to turn her in the first place."

_"Now I'm falling asleep And she's calling a cab_

_While he's having a smoke And she's taking a drag_

_Now they're going to bed And my stomach is sick_

_And it's all in my head_

_But she's touching his chest now He takes off her dress now Let me go_

_And I just can't look its killing me And taking control_

_Jealousy, turning saints into the sea Swimming through sick lullabies_

_Choking on your alibis But it's just the price I pay_

_Destiny is calling me Open up my eager eyes_

_'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside..."_

"Sorry...text ringtone, it's not one of them; don't worry." Meyong explained, Amelia almost laughed before the lyrics clicked in her head, "Great. That song - I really really hate how my thoughts can connect with that..."

"What, you don't think she's stupid enough to get drunk and sleep with one of them, do you?"

Amelia only sighed, "AJ has her fake ID with her - she can get the drinks. But if the guys are really vampires like we think, it's possible she might not even realize what she's doing. And, well, I did go talk to the boys about this whole thing...and Patrick did give me that card and said we can call if we have any problems. And I mean, granted, our reflections aren't running around causing havoc, we're still gonna have a big big mess on our hands if we don't do something soon."

* * *

**Meanwhile, back with TAI:**

AJ yawned, immediately swatting at her phone. Great, Marley had left her phone on again, and the ringtone was going off.

_"Right here…right now…the best days of our lives –_ _is this coincidence or a sign?_

_Is there anything I missed? I know there must be things I missed…._

_tell me if I'm wrong, but why would we change a thing?"_

"Marley…turn your fucking phone off…I'm tired…" she whined, turning over. And what a shock.

That hadn't been a ringtone. It had been the one person who'd written the song.

William Beckett sat shirtless up against the headboard, grinning lazily; a wine glass filled with what AJ assumed was blood in his left hand, right one running through his wavy dark brown hair.

"Ah, someone's awake now. Alcohol finally wear off, sweetie?" he teased, though she could pick up a sarcastic undertone.

She put a hand to her head, "I didn't drink THAT much…but ow…ow…I'm sore. And why the fuck do I…" she stopped short, pulling back the covers – then screamed, seeing the bite marks on her breasts, not to mention the ones littering her forearms.

"My…my…ohgodhowIamgoingtoexplianthistomyfriendsthey'regonnakillme! I can't even…"

William reached his free hand over to turn her head, "You said you'd rather be a Dandie, Adeline."

"BUT YOU DIDN'T TURN ME! YOU JUST BIT ME! I mean, I don't think I have fangs, but-" She was freaking out, to say the least. Hastily getting up off the bed, she began looking for her clothes before she realized they were in the bathroom across the hall.

Sighing and sitting back down, wrapping one of the comforters around her, she refused to look at him. And then the thought hit her - Patrick had been right.

_Oh god, that's why. I looked in his eyes...my memory...he must've made me think last night was a good idea - I don't even remembering anything after the shower...great, Amelia finds out, I'm gonna die._

"Adeline." He was calm, but something in his eyes told her she shouldn't've been yelling.

"Cease your yelling. True, I bit you, but that was only to establish a bond. You're not yet ready to be turned. When that time comes, I'll know. I don't want to raise more trouble by involving you in this conflict – a conference week is the most dangerous time to be in this city."

"You just slept with –  _we had sex_ – and YOU'RE telling ME you don't want me around?" Her voice had raised an octave by the end of her sentence.

"I'm not saying I don't want you around, I just don't want you put into a position like last night. If we hadn't been there, you'd be dead right now. I've already said conference week is dangerous."

She snorted, "If it's so dangerous, why'd we go drinking, huh?"

"First of all, while with us, you and the other girl were perfectly safe. Secondly, there's so many secrets that this city holds that become unleashed at night, and it's comforting to know everyone behind the scenes knows who's really in charge. Thirdly, I know you weren't about to turn my offer down. Don't try to downplay your affections."

"I'M NOT DOWNPLAYING ANYTHING!" Natural, immediate reaction.

"If that were the case, you wouldn't be so defensive right now. But I can see you're not reasonable, so if you want to leave, you're free to. But I promise you'll run into me again. There's bound to be another battle before the week's over. And if you'd like, you could help us out with the hunters - you did say you weren't interested in helping them like I imagine your friends are at the moment."

"You don't know what I'd like to do. And you sure as hell don't know my friends. Speaking of which -" she had had enough, and got up again, this time running into the bathroom, and began pulling on her clothes without a second thought, "We're getting out of here."

"Suit yourself, but you can't tell me you didn't enjoy last night. And if you'd only open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind, in this darkness which you know you cannot fight, the darkness of the music of the night, things would be much better for you. Stay away from those other concerts - it'll get you killed."

She giggled as she realized he had sung the lines from a popular musical, "Phantom of the Opera", but was still seething.

"Sure it will. And by the way, that musical sucks!"

In one movement she pulled herself off the floor from pulling on her shoes, and didn't look back as she headed out of the room towards the foyer.

"MARLEY! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE, WE'RE LEAVING!" she hollered, still extremely bugged by the entire ordeal.

The other girl walked in from the kitchen, bagel in one hand, knife with cream cheese on it in the other.

"Don't you want breakfast? Mike and Michael went and got us bagels...they've got Nutella and peanut butter!"

"No! Put that down, we're leaving. Now!

"Geezus, AJ, what's gotten into you? You're really mad."

"I'll tell you later. Grab your shoes. And call Myeong for me; tell her we'll be at the hotel in twenty minutes."

"But AJ, it's seven in the morn-"

"Don't. Test. Me." She snapped, mentally cringing as she remembered William had said the very thing to her the night before, AJ glared at the brunette as she reached for her phone, setting the bagel back down in the kitchen.

"Fine...Hello? Yeah, hey Myeong, we're fine. We crashed at TAI's last night. No, we didn't do anything stupid. Well, I didn't. AJ's a complete wreck right now, I don't know why. But we'll be back at the hotel in about half an hour. See ya, Santi."

Putting her phone away, she looked at the blonde, who stood still, gaze transfixed on someone. Turning, Marley did the math in her head - to see an obviously upset high school senior glaring at a very very attractive twenty-something walking towards her pulling on a shirt that early in the morning could have only meant one thing.

"Oh. My. God. You - AJ, I can't believe y-"

The door slammed, and before Marley could follow after her, William had said something.

"She'll act like she never knew what she was in for. Don't worry about her, she'll come around. The scene she involved you in is the aftermath of what happened between her and I. Go on, follow after her. I don't want her doing something rash and endangering herself - she's got a lot to learn if she ever thinks she's going to fit in here."

"Uh...alright. I...I gave Sisky my number, so...if we're ever both in town again...well, I'll leave that up to you guys. Thanks for letting us enjoy such an awesome concert yesterday." Marley said as she headed out the door, intent on finding AJ.

* * *

The first knocking on Amelia's door sent the girl running towards it, opening it to see AJ standing there, clearly upset about something.

"AJ...what's wrong? Marley said you were upset, but-"

"Call Patrick and Pete. Now."

"But you haven't even-"

"Just call them!"

Amelia had never seen the younger girl so upset before, and it really startled her.

"AJ - you're wearing a sweater. It's almost 65 degrees out. A t shirt and a hoodie is fine," Myeong pointed out, knowing the blonde never wore long sleeve shirts.

"Fine. Guys don't get mad. This is why I'm upset...and I'm about ready to kill someone." she explained, pulling up the sleeves.

The two gasped.

"Who...How'd you even...why..." Amelia stuttered; face paling at the multiple bite marks visible on the girl's arms.

"I think you all can guess who," AJ laughed bitterly, nodding as Myeong mouthed a name.

"No. You're not that stupid! I can't beli-"

"That's not the worst part." Marley stated, panting as she reached the door frame, having gotten back to the hotel as fast as she could even after hailing a cab.

"There's MORE?" Amelia couldn't hide the shock in her voice.

"Typical high school girl, hot guy, you do the math."

"MARLEY!" AJ protested, trying to get a hand over the girl's mouth to quiet her.

Immediately the four froze at the realization, and then began laughing.

"I'll be damned. It's who we all think it was, right?" Myeong managed; face cracking into a goofy grin. For the first time since she'd walked in, AJ smiled and appeared to be her normal self.

"Six foot three, hazel eyes, long dark brown hair and that voice? Mmhhmm." She agreed, winking, before she added, "But how the fuck can you all laugh at that?!"

Amelia was the first to regain composure - somehow this hadn't shocked her as much as she thought it would have.

"Okay, now I see why you wanted to call them. I hope I still have that card. Actually, we should just go visit their base, Patrick gave me the address. It's probably better they see you so they can figure out what we should do..."


	6. Chapter 6

"Come on. I can see the place!" Amelia yelled over the wind, sick of the busy streets and too many people. By the time the group crossed the street they were on, she could see the old building Seb and the others had taken her to.

Trying to replicate the knock, she was surprised when the door opened and there stood Patrick, looking slightly amused.

"Come on, let's hear it. You sounded worried, this better be good."

Everyone found their way inside, where Andy and Joe exchanged glances at the group of girls walking in, Patrick shrugging as if to tell them, "Told you this was bad."

AJ, being the last person to walk in, sensed she wasn't going to get the best reaction out of the hunters – especially Pete.

"Hey, blondie. Back up, and get out! Don't think I can't recognize that bastard's scent!" Pete snapped, rubbing his eyes, jumping forward, causing AJ to back against the wall.

"It's not-" she protested, trying to lie.

Pete snarled, hand to her throat, voice deadly, "For all I know, he turned you and you're just another bitch of his. Don't think I won't kill you."

AJ struggled for air against his grip, coughing and sputtering. She raised her arms in front of her face, bringing her bruised and marked up skin to the young vampire's attention.

Pete immediate felt bad once he saw the tears in her eyes, and he let go, turning away and stomping off as AJ dropped to the floor, thankful to breath.

"What's his problem?" Myeong asked, helping to pick AJ up, noticing she glared at the door Pete had disappeared into.

"He hates a certain vampire you appear to know very well, judging by those bites," Andy explained, offering a chair to the blonde who took it, shaking slightly.

"Not like it was my choice to get them." She scoffed, staring at the floor, "I'm so mad at him right now I just - I can't even put words to it. I should have listened. The warnings...I'm such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot, you're a teenage girl and he's a pretty rock star that happens to be a vampire," David defended, acting like it was no big deal.

"And that's where truth differentiates." Amelia spoke up, before she added, "So this isn't what I'd expected when you said you were going out for drinks, but honestly I can't say I'm surprised at the turn of events."

Andy nodded, and then looked at Joe, who only offered a smile, "We knew what we were getting into the moment Seb showed up with you - we just didn't think your entire group would get involved so fast."

"But we're not all involved yet." Marley said quietly, somewhat star struck, "I mean, two of our friends, Rose and Xena are coming up to see Panic! At The Disco in three days, and, Myeong is seeing you guys tomorrow night. The concerts are what gets us involved, right?"

Marley gave a small huff, "I'll tell you, if AJ hadn't gotten those tickets, we wouldn't be in this mess."

The blonde turned, the hurt visible on her face, "You're just mad you've got no bite marks to prove how stupid you really are. We both were last night. We looked in their eyes."

"Please tell me you at least were able to realize what was happening to you after doing that!" Patrick threw in, already worried that the girl had deliberately forgotten his warning about avoiding a Dandie's eyes.

"Er...well...no. I woke up naked and covered in bite marks - and kind of threw a fit. He kept saying he didn't want to turn me, something about a bond...I still haven't come to terms with the fact he-"

Myeong and Amelia exchanged glances, "AJ, they're rock stars - I think they know what happened."

Patrick was quiet for a moment, but began to explain.

"You're saying he only bit you to form a bond, that he wouldn't turn you completely, right?"

"Even after I'd repeated multiple times I believed I was better off being a Dandie."

A loud bang from down the hall started the group, but Joe only laughed, "Don't mind that. It's only Pete - I think he's got a slight issue with you. That bang was probably a book hitting the wall..."

Patrick shook his head, but continued, "Anyways - he hasn't turned you because he can't decide what he wants. That's the way the Dandies work - if they find a girl they think is lucky enough to be kept around, they mess with her until she proves she has the ability to be one of them. If not, they kill her."

"Well, I'm still here." Marley and AJ both said, nervously laughing after.

"How bad was it? The talk about joining them?" Joe asked.

"There wasn't any, actually. See, before we went back to their mansion, the bar we were all in got into a fight. It kind of killed everyone's moods...well, until we got cleaned up, anyways." Marley said, winking at AJ because the other girl would know what she'd mean.

"So if the Dandies are choosing to keep Marley and AJ alive, how long is it until they're killed - if they don't have the abilities?" Amelia wondered.

"Depends. Every time you run into them could be the time that snaps their patience. But my suggestion is, for anyone going to see any of the bands this week, anything even involving the vampires in this city - watch yourself. AJ, you and Marley need to be especially careful - everyone knows the regular vampires are bad, but now you two are pegged as a Dandie's possible lucky lady? And then there's the matter of which ones it is - Marley, who of the band had taken a liking to you?"

She bit her lip, feeling that suddenly everyone in the room had turned to look at her.

"Sisky."

"Alright, he's not so bad. Can control shadows, practically can say he lives in the darkness. Not much of a problem there." Andy stated, before Joe gave him a look and continued, "You're forgetting he can pretty much manipulate your soul. Kid can see the darkness in your heart and almost always turns it against you, like a mirror. You've become your own worst enemy. That's how Pete ended up getting bit by Beckett, he used the youngest one to manipulate his defenses, made him question just enough to stall him before-"

"So I've gotta be careful. I can do that. AJ can too." Marley said, managing a smile as she looked at the blonde, who nodded in agreement.

"Blondie's gotta be a little more than careful, with whom she's got after her," another voice answered, and the group looked up to see Pete leaning against the far wall, blood bag in his hands.

"Oh come on. He's not going to hurt me - he didn't kill me the first time, didn't even leave me dizzy from blood loss! I don't get why you guys think the Dandies are so bad! I mean - what if they're just a misunderstood breed of vampire?"

Having said that, AJ immediately shrank back, realization hitting her of what she'd just said, knowing it was going to set the vampire across the room off.

The empty blood bag hit the floor with a light swish, and before AJ could blink, the raven-haired bassist was in front of her, his hands on her shoulders.

"You're clueless, and you're going to be dead soon because of it! I could do you a favor now and just do it for that bastard, he doesn't even deserve such a naive girl like you!"

AJ exhaled angrily, standing on her tiptoes to try to match his height. She almost didn't want to do what she was going to, but knew it was only going to get under his skin, and that was a reaction she wanted. So, glancing quickly at the rest of her group, she smiled, hoping that watching all that Doctor Who had helped with her voice.

Moving to lift his hands off her shoulders, she glared at him as she brushed the shoulders of her jean jacket, as if he'd had some disease and she'd came into contact with it. Then, in the best British accent she could manage, she said, "What's the matter, Peter? Too afraid this naive little girl would fit in with them?"

The room was silent, no one dared to move, let alone breath.

After a few seconds, David muttered under his breath a, "H-oly..shit..."

Feeling satisfied with the reaction so far, AJ continued, turning her head to crack her neck.

"There were things William was telling me - I needed to learn a lot before I could even think about joining them - I needed better manners, I needed to be more reserved and the like. But you? I don't quite understand why he bit you - you're not worthy, from what I see. And what you just did? One never puts their hands on a lady, unless it's out of love! To think of it, Edward Cullen is a better vampire than you, Peter, and that's saying something because he's no vampire at all."

No one moved, too shocked by what AJ had just said. Until Jeff started a slow clap, obviously impressed, and Pete finally yelled, frustrated.

"For fuck's sake, she's turned into one of them! If I wanted to, I'd do Beckett a favor and kill you myself. But you know what, I'll let him do that himself - since you two seem so alike already."

His eyes were livid, and this only made AJ want to piss him off further.

"Good, then a proper vampire can kill me."

That did it. In seconds, Pete had AJ up against the wall, his hand around her throat.

"PETE LET HER GO!" Andy and Joe both yelled, but the bassist ether was too blinded by emotion to have heard, or he just wasn't listening.

"Listen here, princess. He may have been all gentle with you to get you to fall for him, so he could get you into bed, but the Dandies - they're NOT like that! Ulterior motives drive them! There's always a reason for the actions!"

"Why'd William bite you, then?" She choked out, smirking.

He growled, squeezing a little tighter.

"Thought I'd be a rather interesting add to his collection - as if I'd call that group a coven, it's more like brainwashed followers. So as to why he's so interested in you - something about you's got him distracted, and I'll be damned if I can exploit it and make it easier for him to kill you!"

AJ only managed a weak laugh, narrowing her eyes.

"For some reason, I'd hoped the Sixteen Candles video hadn't been accurate. But it was...and one day, I'm gonna be a better vampire than you!"

The next thing she knew, the book on the table had thrown itself at him, followed by the converse that had been by the door.

Pete, clearly shocked, dropped her to the ground and stumbled back a few steps.

"I'll be damned. Patrick, you're right, the abilities pass with the bites..."

"Wh-what abilities? I'm human - I swear, if one of you just comes out and says I'm showing signs of being not normal-"

"There is no normal, dip wad." Pierre can't help laughing.

"Well, judging by that book and the shoes, someone's got a harness on telekinesis, or at least is prone to accidents involving it when she's mad." Patrick said, smiling as he reached for the book on the ground.

"No, I mean - passing with bites? Great, don't tell me you think this is some stupid coincidence that makes supernatural abilities the new form of STDs...great, I'm cracking myself up. This is perfect. I officially think I'm crazy now, guys, thanks!"

"So now what? AJ's got freaky mind powers and some of the most beautiful vampires in the country are after our group, what do we do?" Marley asked, picking at her nails, cursing herself for picking up such a bad habit.

"Given your situation, I'd suggest you all learn how to protect yourselves. Rather, how to use certain weapons." Patrick suggested, noticing how a few of the girls' eyes lit up.

"Weapons? Like...guns? And swords? And all the stuff from the Sixteen Candles vid?!" Myeong squeals, excited.

"Yes you numbnut - like the stuff from Underworld, right? UV bullets and ninja stars and-" Amelia shoots back.

"Yes, yes, all like that. I'd suggest everyone know how to use something, although AJ - you and Pete may hate me for this, but since he knows firsthand a Dandie's mental abilities, he can help you strengthen your telekinetic powers."

AJ laughed at the same exact time Pete had protested, "Patrick, come on - I can't work with her, I'll do something stupid and get mad and-"

"No arguing. Now, the rest of you- Andy, take Myeong," he started, "Joe, you can Marley," pointing to Amelia, he continues, "One person in your group's gotta be the know it all - and judging by how quickly you remembered how to get here, I'd say it should be you."

Patrick had seen Amelia's ability, so he knew she didn't need to learn anything new. Pete was helping AJ, and Andy and Joe turned out to be pretty good instructors, when it came to vampire hunting, at least.


	7. Chapter 7

Over the next few days after the first concerts, Amelia met with Chuck so that she could learn to hone and perfect her Waterbending abilities. After only a few days of practice, she was already good enough to hold her own against the Waterbending master. Whenever she saw AJ or any of her other friends, though, she kept her newfound abilities to herself. AJ and the others had improved with their own weapons, Pete helping AJ train her mental shield.

One day, after AJ had left the hideout to go back to the hotel, citing mental fatigue and the need for a nap, Myeong had stopped over, wanting to thank the boys once again for an amazing concert.

She didn't expect that thank you to be taken in a different form, or at least that she'd end up in Pete's bedroom, clearly in love with the bassist. While Pete and Myeong were upstairs in the bedrooms above the hideout, the rest of Fall Out Boy was downstairs in the back room, eating leftover pizza, watching the Tim Burton classic, "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

"Patrick, are you sure that potion thing is doing him any good? He seems to be way more irritable with it than he does without! Then again, Amelia's blonde friend probably has something to do with that. But still..." Andy said.

"Pete has no idea what he's missing. This is his favorite movie, that tattoo sleeve proves it, and he's up having a hissy fit in his room. Do vampires ever grow up?" Joe asked, almost causing Patrick to choke on the half-eaten slice of pepperoni pizza he was holding.

"Well - theoretically speaking, no, but as time goes on one would think they would mature...but it's Pete. So, no, probably not. Should I go check on him to make sure he's okay?"

"Sure...I'll go with," Andy offered, getting up.

Joe just raised his hands in a, 'you-guys-are-fucking-crazy-he's-fine-this-is-a-good-movie' shrug, but protested only with, "B-But the movie!"

Patrick smiled, "Oh stop acting like a four year old, and you can pause it til we get back."

Joe laughed. Patrick and Andy walked upstairs to Pete's room to find the door cracked slightly.

"It's quiet. Is he asl- fuck, there he goes again." Andy observed at the sight of Myeong curled up against him, a soft smile playing across her features.

"Great. At least he knows better than to kill them now…he's learned a lot since he was first turned, I'll admit. And hey, if she gets turned…it's one more on our side against the Dandies." Patrick said as the two headed back downstairs, not surprised to find Joe had finished the rest of the pizza.

"He okay? See, I told you. Now you have to listen to me singing along to Making Christmas because you left and missed it."

"Oh, joy."

Back at the Four Seasons Hotel, AJ finally had her and Amelia's room to herself for the first time that week thus far, and she almost laughed at what she'd decided to do with that time alone, being practicing with Pete was taking a toll on her.

Take a nap.

Hotel pillows were usually too flat, and feathery, but after her break so far, the double white pillow-cased objects were a welcome sight. And before she knew it, she'd slipped asleep.

* * *

_It didn't seem like a dream, it was like she was just walking around Chicago - but it wasn't the Chicago she'd known. It seemed like a different era - kerosene lanterns and horse drawn carriages lined the streets, and AJ smiled as she noticed bookshops and coffeehouses. Ducking into one, she smiled as the smell of freshly ground coffee beans her hit nose, and followed to the counter, sitting._

_Imagine the surprise when a familiar Irish lullaby greeted her ears, enough to make her start humming along, having memorized the melody from years before._

**_"Of all the money that e'er I had I've spent it in good company_ **

**_And all the harm that e'er I've done Alas it was to none but me_ **

**_And all I've done for want of wit To memory now I can't recall_ **

**_So fill to me the parting glass Good night and joy be with you all_ **

**_Of all the comrades that e'er I had_ ** **_They are sorry for my going away_ **

**_And all the sweethearts that e'er I had_ ** **_They would wish me one more day to stay_ **

**_But since it falls unto my lot_ ** **_That I should rise and you should not_ **

**_I'll gently rise and I'll softly call_ ** **_Good night and joy be with you all..."_ **

_Turning to see exactly who this was that had caused her to recall summer nights in the cabins in the north woods of a neighboring state, she almost dropped the mug she'd been drinking out of._

_She blinked, set the mug down and rubbed her eyes, "No way. Not possible - it's a dream...how'd you-" she stuttered, confused._

_"'Ello love. Come for a parting glass? Knew I'd find you here, to hell with those that say you can't meet nice girls in coffee shops," William said, the smile accompanying it causing her to nod automatically in agreement._

_"Not a parting glass, exactly. I grew up hearing that...you're missing a verse." She added, getting up to take the chair next to him._

_If this was a dream, was that why she was so nice? If she'd been awake and the encounter had happened, she would have been too mad for words, having not gotten over the night at the bar. But here she was, being courtly and - from the looks of it, borderline typical lunch date-y._

_"Missing a verse?" he asked, surprised, setting his hand over her's, from where it rested on the low table between the chairs._

_"Yeah. It's sort of dark, but it's nothing that wouldn't fit your kind, what with a few of the lines," AJ continued, laughing softly._

_"Would you allow me to hear it, if you know the words?"_

_She immediately relaxed upon the realization he was asking her to sing. Singing had always been one thing that she'd been good at, one thing that she didn't mind doing in front of others._

_She smiled, remembering the words as they flowed easily off her tongue._

**_"A man may drink and not be drunk_ ** **_A man may fight and not be slain_ **

**_A man may court a pretty girl_ ** **_And perhaps be welcomed back again_ **

**_But since it has so ought to be_ ** **_By a time to rise and a time to fall_ **

**_Come fill to me the parting glass_ ** **_Good night and joy be with you all_ **

**_Good night and joy be with you all..."_ **

_"Drink and not be drunk, fight and not be slain, I can see just why you'd agree that fits my kind. You're so keen on pointing that out, as though you wish it were you instead. You'll know eventually, Adeline, that you can't hide your longing. I've seen the way your eyes follow each movement, as if you're unsure I'm really here. How you know I have that poise you'll never obtain for yourself, unless of which, you were to be like me. How hard this must be for you to hear, it must be like listening to your thoughts, which I'd tell you if I could read them. But you're special - and one day you'll see that, and you'll run back to me." William explained, his wording making her notice it was a direct side effect of his vampirism, for language changed as years must have passed since the day he'd been turned._

_"I'll run back to your arms never." she retorted, staring at the half-empty mug in front of her, knowing this dream wasn't her own._

_"Fine. As you wish, dear. This scenery's a little too calm for the awakening you deserve, however. I promise, you'll find me again. Whether I run into you, or you me, this'll not be the last you see of me, that I'll make sure. Goodnight, Adeline, and joy be to you, my dear."_

And with that, the scene suddenly changed! No longer in the coffee shop, AJ screamed as she realized she was falling into nothing, but seeing the ground, rapidly approaching.

Just as she would have hit the ground, she wake up with a scream, sitting up, panting hard and remembering where she was.

"I hate vampires. Damn abilities. He totally planned that from the moment I left," she spoke aloud, though she knew she was alone.

Taking out her phone, she called Amelia.

"Hey. Want to go get food? I'm done hanging around here by myself, It's a long story. I'll tell you at dinner, kay? Yeah, Chili's is fine. Block away from the hotel, on State. Got it. Grab the others if you can, they need to know as well. Santi."

* * *

Marley had literally just got back from the pool in the hotel when her phone went off with a text from Amelia.

'Grab others and meet AJ and I at Chili's on State. Dinner - Girls' night out. Santi.'

"Huh. Wonder what's up this time. This sounds more like a meeting call then just a notice we're all going for dinner," she thought to herself, thinking of the concerts and how Myeong and AJ had both landed themselves in hot water. Texting Myeong, the entire group agreed to meet up at quarter after 5.

"So what's the story, morning glory?" Marley asked as soon as everyone had sat down and ordered drinks.

"You know how we all had a run in with a particular group of vampires? Well, I'm pretty sure one's trying to make me fall for him."

Myeong laughed, though it still hurt slightly after the mosh pit that the Fall Out Boy show turned out to be, neverminding that that was coupled with sleeping with Pete, "You had sex with him. How have you not fallen for him?"

"Well, no, not like that...and I mean, I have fallen for him, but like...I think he wants me on their side..."

"And next thing you know you're gonna find whatever hotel they're in and stalk him until he turns you into a vampire, right?" Amelia said, laughing.

"NO! Not...I mean, well yes, but, no, I mean-...fuck you guys and let me explain!"

Myeong almost spit out the soda she'd been drinking.

"So I had this dream right? We're in this coffee shop, yes it was a Starbucks-"

Marley giggled, "Please don't tell me you were licking whipped cream off his nose or something like that. You're too good for those kinds of things..."

"You guys just- He basically tried to talk me into joining them, by mentioning how much he knew I wanted to be like him...I mean, yeah, what I wouldn't do to have a vampire's grace, but still."

"So you called a meeting because your undead lover is messing with your mind. We're involved why?" Myeong continued.

"I'm just saying we all need to be careful, like Patrick said. Marley and I are the most at risk ones right now, and...Rose and Xena are too, and even though they're not here, they could still get into trouble. Cobra Starship and Panic! are Dandies as well. Amelia, Myeong - you two are fine, Simple Plan, FOB and MCR are the good guys in this situation, it seems."

"Why are the bad boys always the hot ones?" Marley sighed, before Myeong laughed, "Hey! Not true! We're forgetting a certain tattooed bassist that is. Smoking. Hot."

"Oh right, the pathetic vampire William bit that threatened to kill me," AJ chided under her breath, "Twice."

"Okay, that's enough children!" Amelia called, hoping to diffuse any tension before it started an argument.

The other three shake their heads, but then Amelia grabs her phone.

" Hey, why don't we all go to a movie after this? I hear the new Star Trek is amazing!"

"Yeah, you only want to see it because of Benedict Cumberbatch." Myeong shot back.

"Can anyone else here think of another reason as to why they'd go see it besides Sherlock?" Marley asked everyone. None to her surprise, no hands went up, not a word was spoken.

"Case closed. We're seeing Star Trek. I'll get tickets on my phone for us all."

* * *

As the movie ended and the four walked out of the theater, Amelia heard a familiar voice calling her.

Turning to see Seb and his friends, she smiled.

"Hey guys! What are you all doing here? I thought you guys would be practicing to kick butt or something, aren't you worried about another fiasco with the Dandies?"

"Yeah, but everyone's saying this movie is so good and we kinda just had to check it out." David explained with a grin, shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth, protesting as Pierre grabbed the bucket out of his hands, "That's your third round, I'm cutting you off, man."

David, at this news, pretended to pout, causing his friends to laugh.

"So, where are you headed to now? It's dark out, you know the kind of trouble that is in this city's nightlife...would you all like some company?" Chuck asked, noticing how most of the girls seemed apprehensive about going outside in the cool Chicago night.

"That'd be great. Hey, aren't you guys in Simple Plan?!" Myeong shouted, realizing who was around.

"SSSHHH! Geezus, Myeong you can't just ask guys if they're in Simple Plan!" AJ yelled back, making Amelia shrug and blush.

"I'm so sorry about them, they're not the best at being calm and collected around celebrities..."

"It's alright." Jeff laughed it off, calling to the other three, "Alright, first one back to the hotel you're staying at gets a signed t-shirt from us!"

The remaining three squealed and took off out the door, each thinking they'd be the one to get the shirt.

"Great. Thanks. Scatter them when we should stick together. Thanks." Amelia sighed.

"'Welcome?"

And with that, Amelia and the boys went to head after her friends, who by now were probably halfway down the block.

"Somebody trip, I want that shirt." AJ said, half laughing as Marley quit literally tripped into something. Well, it wasn't something rather - it was someone.

"Sisky? What are you doing here?" Marley asked as the blond whistled something unfamiliar, offering a hand to help her to her feet.

"Just thought I'd take a walk, you know this city is actually nice at night, when you don't need to be afraid of everything."

Myeong laughed, "Yeah? What's there to be afraid of? How many vampires does this city really have?" She challenged.

"Well, since you asked so nicely, I guess I can show you." He smiled, whistled again, and a second later, was gone!

Then, as though it was right out of the video for sixteen candles, the girls froze at the sound of heeled dress shoes on the pavement.


	8. Chapter 8

"Oh fuck. Guys...we need to get out of here. Like now." AJ said, suddenly alert.

"Oh? Look here, boys - an entire group, enough to go around!"

All the girls turned at the voice, and Myeong screamed. It was none other than Brendon Urie

"Hm. The blonde next to her looks rather - un-nerved. Why don't you calm down, darling, we're not going to hurt you." And here was Ryan Ross, ryhawk tucked into a white derby hat. AJ could see Spencer Smith and Jon Walker behind them, talking to each other.

"Alright, so Panic! At The Disco's in town after all. Where'd Sisky go?" Marley wondered.

"Oh, Marley!" A catcall caused her to turn, and she nearly fainted at the sight of Sisky and The Butcher standing next to each other, each waving, and goofy little grins plastered to their faces.

"Lovely. If you two are here, where's-" Amelia started, only to be tapped on the shoulder. She turned to see a black haired vampire with shaggy shoulder length hair.

"Carden." she finished, the name dying on her lips.

"And then-" AJ began, not even thinking the name before she realized who would show up next.

"Care to take a walk with me? Don't worry girl, my mates aren't that bad - if need be I can protect you, we're all a little edgy..."

Damn it. I'd be fine if it weren't for that accent. Michael Guy Chislett, why do you have to be such a hot Aussie?

AJ shook her head, "I'll think we're better off sticking in our own group, thanks."

His smile faded, and AJ wondered briefly if she'd made him mad.

"Pardon me, I should have rephrased that. I meant to say, come take a walk with me. Let's go somewhere we can be alone together."

Damn, with an invitation like that, she just might have agreed had it not been for someone yelling.

"THEY'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"

Amelia smiled, backing up as Simple Plan ran to surround the girls, keep them a safe distance from any vampire.

"Oh look, it's the Canadians. First one to throw a punch will apologize right after, watch." Brendon sneered.

"You're so sure of that, aren't you, Mr. I-come-from-Vegas-so-I-must-be-addicted-to-gambling?" Pierre stated, striking a pose that would better help him bend.

"This is going to be an interesting night, for sure." Ryan said, shrugging as he looked towards the girls, then the band before him.

"Well come on then!" Carden shouted, trying to provoke someone into starting the fight. Instead, everyone soon found a target and seemed to begin a game of chicken.

After about ten minutes of this, with no-one doing anything, David lunged for Sisky, aiming multiple blasts of wind at the young vampire, who dodged them all with ease, smiling as though he was actually having fun.

"Are you going to do anything or are we just going to circle each other like the mutt you really are?" Butcher taunted, earning a snarl from Seb, though he did nothing else, still managing to keep an eye on Spencer, who was walking in tandem with Butcher.

Sisky and David were trading blows, each just missing the other by a few inches. Amelia was struggling with both Mike and Michael. As good of a Waterbender as she was, these two were much faster than her, but luckily Chuck helped back her up. Myeong and Marley were dealing with Ryan and Brendon, and Jon and Jeff were playing the same game Seb was. This naturally left AJ to decide who to jump in with.

Watching for a second, she added, "Yeah, if you don't want to fight, we'll just go back to our concerts," in response to Butcher, not expecting the person that replied to her to speak up, let alone to have been there in the midst of everything.

"I thought I told you to stay away from those concerts, my dear. You really ought to learn to listen; you'd stop getting in so much trouble."

AJ snorted, in half disbelief, half doubt, turning away from the Dandie closest to her to stand back to back with Myeong, switchblade poised against her chest, facing outward.

"Trouble finds me no matter what; you know that first hand, William."

And suddenly, the moment she responded to him, all movement stopped. With a wave of his hand, the leader dismissed all intentions of a fight, beginning to walk toward the blonde, a certain grace in his stride she knew she'd never have.

"Stop. Another foot, and I'll shoot." Marley spoke, already aiming, though her face betrayed her bravery.

"Now, you don't need to get so defensive, acting as though you know how to handle a weapon such as that. I've called off my men, you should do the same, considering you all know who is the reason you're not being torn to shreds," William suggested, smiling almost politely as he tipped the derby in AJ's direction, "Your move, love."

With wide eyes, the blond turned to her friends. Myeong and Marley gaped, open mouthed, while Amelia glared just at the vampire behind her. Even Simple Plan seemed shocked by the fact that a Dandie had literally handed control of the situation to a mere mortal.

"Uh, guys – you heard him. It's best we lower our weapons, try to talk things out first. We don't want more bloodshed than there has to be." She said, standing a little straighter, already feeling more like the Dandie she knew she wasn't.

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it? I'm surprised none of you are fighting her word, after all, we're all," he paused, took a step closer to AJ, enough to set a hand on her shoulder, causing an immediate blush, "Itching for a fight."

"Damn straight!" Myeong and Marley both moved, lunging for Panic! yet again.

"Are you really that stupid?" The tallest of the band spoke, hand out in front of his body, the others noticed how Marley's body immediately conformed to the movements of his hand, "We can stop you before you even get close enough to land a hit," Ryan finished, raising his palm towards him, drawing her body towards him, her movements out of her control.

Before anyone else could blink, not to be outdone, Brendon was doing the same with Myeong, and soon the two pairs were dancing, undeniable hunger shining in each man's eyes.

Meanwhile, the rest of TAI had jumped back into action, Simple Plan along with them, Amelia backing them up. Jon and Spencer simply shrugged and stepped back from their battles; content with watching everything already them, thought it was obvious they were amused with Brendon and Ryan's current situation.

William laughed, having watched the two girls fall too easily under the younger vampires' control. He gave a little half smile in amusement at Adeline's displeasure, her face contorted into a 'are you fucking kidding me' expression.

"Now Adeline, if you're to be one of us you've got to learn to exert better control over your coven," he chastised, a light tsk tsk in his tone.

"Cov- I'M STILL HUMAN!" she retorted, growing tired of his seamlessly endless oh-so-matter-of-fact way of correcting her.

He blinked, lifted the hand from her shoulder to just under her chin, coaxing her to look at him.

"You really do need to learn your manners, I thought I've told you once before darling, there's no need to get defensive, no need for you to raise your voice, I was merely offering a suggestion."

She laughed, tore away from him in one movement, observing the action around them.

"I made the mistake of looking in your eyes once, I'm not about to do it again so I can fall under your control. I'm sorry I ever got those tickets; sorry I ever came to Chicago for break in the first place. Sorry I ever thought I loved you."

Both turned to look at the sound of a scream, seeing fire in the air for a brief second before it dissipated and another growl was heard.

Amelia lay on the ground, crying, her arms pressed tightly to her body. Chuck was at her side in less than a minute. Seb barreled into the vampire that had hurt her, knocking the Australian to the ground before laying into him, hit after hit doing nothing to calm him after seeing the young magician injured like she'd been.

"If you'd all join us, this could be avoided. Michael's fire bending skills are quite dangerous, in the regard that his control isn't the best yet. From the looks of it, she's hurt decently." William analyzed, looking at the girl on the ground.

He turned to AJ, trying to read her mind, surprised when he ran into a blockade – could it be the girl before him was finally special enough to warrant being turned during conference week?

He couldn't remember how many conferences it had been – he knew there was one girl for each of the Dandies somewhere, each having the ability to complement their own, or at least the opposite thereof.

It Adeline's case, it appeared she was impervious to any of William's mental techniques; at least that he couldn't read her mind. In retrospect, he realized he had only been able to alter her thoughts that night after the bar because she had wanted him to, whether she realized it or not. Maybe it was that he just couldn't read her mind - perhaps other forms of alteration would work?

"Be avoided? How do I know you wouldn't just kill us?" She was glaring, her lips pursed, waiting for an answer.

"Well, the two that Brendon and Ryan are dancing with don't know how to handle their weapons, and are obviously infatuated with them, much like how you were with me at the mansion, my abilities notwithstanding," he continued, "And I know you'd rather not side with the hunters in the first place."

Her face darkened and she scowled, "I never said that."

"Oh? Someone's using denial as distancing technique, isn't she? You mortals are funny little creatures, you think certain behaviors allow you to cower and change your course of action, and well it may appear that way, you know you're lying to yourself."

"I'm not-"

"By the sound of it, you're the worst of your friends. Dear, I can't kill you, there's certain ramifications and difficulties that prevent that. As well as I'd rather prefer to keep you around, due to your...abilities."

Great. Somehow he knows.

"I scared Peter pretty badly the other day," she admitted, voice slipping in her fake accent, if only to try to fit in with his crowd, "I threw a book and a pair of trainers at him from across the room with my mind."

William actually smiled at the familiar English slang, "See? Now, if you can show me tonight what you're capable of, I can assure you'll need to be afraid of us no longer..."

She grinned, dropping her gun and reaching for his hand, totally forgetting the rest of her friends were around.

Before she knew what had happened, she had kissed his cheek and grabbed the derby off his head, placing it on her own.

Running back into the fray, she found Pierre with ease.

"Hey...don't you think it's easier to wait for backup? Like, for MyChem to show up and save us like they seem to always do?" she taunted.

"Damnit AJ, move. You're not helping, and no, I'd rather not wait. And take that hat off, you look terrible."

"I. Look. Terrible?" Each word was punctuated with a glare before she giggled.

"It's show time for me, hun. Someone's watching, and I'd like to impress."

Briefly she wondered where Myeong was, but she saw her dealing with Jon Walker, back to back with Marley once again.

Focusing, AJ was able to get control of the large chunk of ground that had been aimed at Pierre's head. Smiling, she carefully set it back down on the ground, only to move it a second later to form a barrier between the two girls.

"Want some help, love?"

She nodded at Brendon's question, and together the two began moving things here and there, distracting everyone, giving the Dandies enough time to leave the battle that was going nowhere, and the hunters time to regroup and deal with those that had been injured. Brendon, meanwhile, had grabbed William's derby back from her, and she looked up to see it back on his head, the rest of his men beside him.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's been grand," William called out to the group, pausing to give AJ an approving nod, "But I'm afraid we have other matters to settle. And dealing with you lot's bored us, I'm sure you can understand why. Until next time, then."

And with a tip of the hat, they were gone.

 


	9. Chapter 9

As soon as the Dandies had left, AJ walked back towards the group. Chuck had finished healing Amelia's burns and was now assessing some of the others. The minute that Amelia saw AJ, she jumped up.

"What the fuck was that all about?" she demanded as she walked towards her best friend.

"What are you talking about?" AJ replied, confused.

"Oh, don't give me that 'I'm-so-innocent' act! You know damn well what I'm talking about. How could you side with them and then come over here like everything's okay?"

"I didn't side with them. I was - " she started before Amelia cut her off.

"Oh bullshit, AJ! We all saw you! It's like you're turning into one of them. It's like I don't even know you anymore."

At this point, AJ giggled, which only infuriated Amelia more.

"You know what, Amelia? You're just jealous! You're jealous that they have more class and elegance than you'll ever have!"

"WHAT?! Jealous!? I'll show you jealous!" Amelia declared as she readied a whip of water. She shot the water at AJ and froze it into an icicle spear. Before it could hit AJ, the ice turned back into water and dropped to the ground.

Chuck came up next to AJ and looked disapprovingly at Amelia.

"Chuck, what did you do that for?" she asked.

"Amelia, I'm not going to let you just attack your friend like that. Now, let's just all go back to the hotel and get some rest, okay?" he suggested and everyone agreed.

They made the trek back to the hotel in total silence.

Both AJ and Amelia refused to speak to each other, forcing everyone else to come to the conclusion that somebody had to switch rooms.

"Good fucking night, and no, I'm not switching." Amelia snapped once the four had gotten back to their rooms.

"Well fine, Marley, stay in here with me, there's enough space on the bed." AJ tried.

"Do I have too?"

AJ only huffed and picked at her nails, "Don't be surprised if you get up and I'm gone, though. It's a small wonder I haven't tried moving anything here yet...I could just...nah, I'll wait til tomorrow. Good night."

Flopping onto her bed as Marley headed to the bathroom to wash up, AJ sighed.

* * *

**(later that night)**

AJ woke with a start, sitting up to find the room dead silent, save for her heartbeat in her ears and Marley's snoring. Realizing it had been another dream that had woken her, she only sighed when she figured out just why it had been that kind of dream again.

"Gettin' real tired of your bullshit, Beckett." she grumbled, laying back down and closing her eyes, trying to pretend like the entire break hadn't suddenly just turned into a nightmare. And then, as if by pure mistake, she noticed her IPod was on.

"Grisly Reminder. Lovely. That's the last time I read creepypasta before bed, even with all this vampire shit involved. That piano melody isn't going to help me sleep. I'm talking to myself. Lovely. Maybe I really am losing it."

Not expecting to be hit in the face with the pillow that had been thrown at her, she squeaked, startled.

"AJ, shut up. It's four in the fucking morning." Amelia said, unable to believe the blonde was still awake.

"I would've. Damn dream again."

"Again?"

"We both know who's behind it. He's just being a sourpuss because of what I did tonight. I just don't know what to do. Like, should I just go home? Or...god, what if it's like those hauntings and it follows me? Like, he did say that bond was-"

"AJ. Look at me."

She blinks, looking at the friend that is normally used to midnight ramblings, the squealing over bands, and everything else she can throw her way.

"Shut up and go back to sleep. We'll deal with everything tomorrow."

AJ smiles, rolling her eyes, trying to not laugh as someone else speaks up, Marley having woken up as well.

"It is tomorrow, dumbasses. Now both of you shut the fuck up before I do something I'll regret."

"Like what?" AJ says before common sense can stop her.

"For one, I still have a certain someone's number. Two, we have the weapons Patrick gave us. And three - just don't piss me off."

Amelia sighed, "Goodnight you two."

Marley said something in response, but AJ had tuned her out.

Maybe I should just go find him. Even if I just talk, that'll be enough to stop the dreams. I hope.

Getting up and dressing into regular clothes, AJ tried to think of what to do if she were to find him again. Somehow the first dream had to have been a clue, the coffee shop. And she did always love Starbucks, which he must have figured out.

Scribbling a note down on the nearest sheet of paper, it read simply, "Gone to Starbucks. Can't sleep, has phone. AJ"

Tapping her toes to make sure her shoes were on tight enough, she was quiet as possible as she walked out of the room, leaving her friends to sleep.

Even for it being an early Chicago morning, not even five AM, Rush Street was populated with sobering college students and boys looking for easy women. Putting her IPod headphones in, AJ sighed at the irony that Same Blood was playing, for it had been the song The Academy Is… had opened with at the show.

Making her way down to Michigan Ave., she remembered being a little girl, running down the exact same street, skidding to a stop before the doors to the American Girl place.

Smiling, she turned a corner, only to find the Starbucks she'd been looking for. It was a smaller one, with colorful ads of new treats and beverages on the windows, comfy looking chairs by the window sills with small tables covered with magazines.

Heading inside, she headed to the counter and ordered exactly wasn't good for her – a venti chai tea latte with whip, two shots of caramel syrup, and three shots of espresso. Mentally cringing at the total, she paid and took her drink, sitting down in a chair nearest the window so she could people watch.

Absentmindedly, the dream returned to her, and she found herself humming the verse to The Parting Glass that William had forgotten. Soon she became lost in staring out the window, watching the world come to life around her.

She must have been this way for some time, because the next thing she'd heard was, "Excuse me, miss, would you mind if I took the seat next to you? Or are you waiting for someone?"

AJ contemplated for about two seconds before she realized who it had sounded like.

"No, go ahead. I would say I'm waiting, but I have a feeling he's here already." She replied with a smile, unable to wrap her head around the fact that William had found her so damn soon.

She looked up at the light 'tsk', but rolled her eyes as William sat next to her, his own drink in hand.

"You shouldn't be so sure of yourself, Adeline. What if it hadn't been me?"

"I can recognize your voice, you know. I've watched enough interviews…and you're a vampire, you can't drink coffee!" She protested, trying to make a point.

In response, William only smiled, reaching over to brush her cheek with his thumb, the soft caress making AJ shiver.

"Adeline, there's much you need to learn about us if you're going to join us someday, preferably before the week is over," he started, lifting his drink to his lips.

She wanted to look away, but god, the way he held the logo adorned paper cup had her kicking herself. He wasn't using a hot sleeve, but why would he? He was a vampire, impervious to temperature change. And the way his fingers curled around the logo itself, poised as though it were just another microphone – Stop. Stop. Bad enough he knows I'm in love with him, no need to make this worse.

"Mainly that we can act human as your kind does, but know that the sustenance of your kind in truth carries no effect. Blood is the only thing we need, which I'm sure you know. We don't burn in the sun like Dracula and Nosferatu and related cousins, my coven and I are day walkers, the sun won't harm us."

"But you're all so graceful…" she mused, looking around, anywhere but his eyes, fearing she'd get lost again.

"All in due time, my dear. You'll learn, shortly after turning you pick things up, and learn the proper way to move without startling the mortals. Startles everyone when they notice they no longer need to breathe, but it's such a trivial notion anyways."

"Breathing is a trivial notion? Wow, don't look now, your supernatural-ness is showing!" she joked, begin to feel a little better just being around him, despite the dreams.

"As it were, the dreams included." He answered with another smile, watching her eyes widen.

"I knew that wasn't my mind making all that up…but that song…did you really-"

_"So fill to me the parting glass_ _And drink a health whate'er befalls_

_And gently rise and softly call_ _Good night and joy be to you all…"_

And she stared, dumbstruck once again, like it was the dream all over again. And before she could make another move, say something to explain how she felt, William had leaned in and kissed her.

AJ's eyes shut, and she mentally smiled at the lingering taste of coffee on his lips, she'd only imagined this happening so many times – though in none of them was he a vampire, the moment still seemed too good to be true. And when he pulled back, William reached for her hand, soft hazel eyes asking for an apology, but for what she couldn't figure out.

"I'm sorry, Adeline. For the bar, the night after. I wanted to test your abilities, see if you were the one that's the reason this conference week is so special. It seems I was right, but I should have taken things slower, I'd tarnished the status I possess by doing what I had with you…granted, your marks have healed I see, but I fear the repercussions of my actions have pushed you away."

Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt her heart skip a beat. William must have seen the look of amazement in her eyes, because he added, "I never meant to take advantage of you, if that's what you think I had planned. We both know you had been anticipating something from the moment you got the tickets, though its extent you could have only guessed at."

She nodded, "I can understand why you're apologizing, but…my friends didn't really care, they had all expected me to do something like that. And…the bond – that's why there's the dreams, right? And why I'm always thinking of you?"

He nodded, but looked toward the door the moment it opened, dinging softly to let baristas know customers had arrived.

AJ cursed under her breath once she noticed who had walked in.

Amelia hadn't been kidding about the run ins, and now AJ was having more of her own. Because, now ordering coffee at the counter were Gerard and Mikey Way.

* * *

Her gaze flickered to William, who had seemingly froze.

"You okay?"

He nodded, "Yes, but it's best we-" he started, before AJ overheard the two.

"Hey Gerard, do you really think letting Amelia stay in this whole thing was a good idea? If she says her friends are actually meeting with the other bands...we knew conference week brings trouble, but this much? It's a no brainer Patrick wanted to do it while on Warped, in wouldn't be in the same city the entire time."

"Seb pretty much swore he'd protect her. And it's not like her friends are going to align themselves with the wrong- oh. Hello, William." the black haired singer paused, finally noticing AJ and William.

AJ didn't want to end up in the middle of whatever she'd just ended up in.

"Gerard. Mikey." William's tone was calm, completely relaxed, but still careful.

"Funny running into you here, without the rest of your brood. Everyone else realize what a mistake it is to be controlled?" Mikey threw out, causing William's lip to twitch.

"They're not controlled, and have far better manners than the rest of your group, who appear perfectly happy to kill any vampire, although you all are far too focused on my coven."

Snap. Someone's used to dealing with this.

"Only because you bit Pete, for the most part," AJ added, attempting to diffuse whatever tension was rising.

"Should I recognize you, or are you just another girl William here has enthralled to suit his means?" Mikey continued, sick of suddenly having too many people involved.

"Her name is Adeline Jeanette, and Michael if I were you, I'd be careful about throwing around the assumption that I enthrall willy-nilly. I'm careful to whom I choose. You yourself should know, the model you knew some years ago? You wondered why you never heard from her again, but like all killers, we choose our targets carefully, to provoke a reaction. I can assure you, never have I tasted sweeter blood," he turned to AJ, "Or perhaps I've found more that has a stronger pull."

"Adeline Jean- that's Amelia's friend! To know you've brought her under your control – William, these girls have no place in this city in a conference weekend!"

"She is not under my control, she came of her own accord."

"Nevertheless, soon the entire city could be aware if this doesn't-"

William got up, held a hand out to AJ, who took it and stood up, "My dear, it's time we leave. You can inform your friends of the troubles when we return to the mansion."

AJ looked at Gerard, then at Mikey. The bassist didn't seem shocked; it seemed more as if he'd expected this to happen.

Remembering she had her phone with her, she shrugged, and allowed William to lead her out of the building without a second look back.

Still inside, Gerard stared at the door the pair had just left through.

"Patrick is not going to like this. The group is already dividing, we can only hope they're smart enough to stay away from more concerts…last thing we need is the Las Vegas side of the Dandies hooking up with the girls…I mean, Amelia did say they were an entire sports team."

"So I get to tell Seb off after all? About how maybe we should have just let her die? I think once she finds out her friend is with Beckett, that'd be enough."

Gerard shrugged, ripping open another packet of sugar to add to his coffee, "Come on…the sooner they know, the better."

 


	10. Chapter 10

The two made it back to the group's base in about twenty minutes, and the minute they walked in, Pete sensed something was wrong.

"Save your questions," Gerard started as Pete went to open his mouth, "And tell Patrick to call Amelia and get the rest of her friends together – at least, the ones on our side."

"Our side? At least – that one I almost attacked a few days ago – she's with him, isn't she?" Pete spat, face contorting in disgust.

Mikey nodded, "And appears fully enthralled, although he insisted she was there of her own choosing."

"Oh man, this isn't good," Patrick said as he pulled out his phone and called Amelia.

"Amelia, hey, it's Patrick. Listen, I'm going to call Seb and the guys and have them come pick you up. We have to have an emergency meeting. What? Yes, I'm aware that it's almost five in the morning. Sorry, but this can't wait. I'll see you soon," he said as he hung up.

Amelia woke to the feeling of her phone vibrating from underneath her pillow. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and answered the phone.

"Hello?" she asked with a yawn.

"Amelia, hey, it's Patrick. Listen, I'm going to call Seb and the guys and have them come pick you up. We have to have an emergency meeting," Patrick said.

"Are you freaking kidding me? It's almost five in the morning," she complained.

"I know it's almost five in the morning, but this can't wait. I'll see you soon," he said and hung up.

Amelia stared at her phone for a full minute before climbing out of bed. She threw on some clothes and woke up the others.

"I hope this is really just one of those double dreams. In a minute, I'll wake up and be back in my bed and not going to a meeting at almost five in the morning," she grumbled as she threw her hair into a ponytail.

Ten minutes later, a knock at the door let her know that this was most certainly not a dream. She opened the door and found Seb and his friends on the other side of it.

"Good morning, sunshine!" David exclaimed with a goofy grin on his face.

"How the hell are you so cheerful?" Amelia replied.

"Ooh, someone's grumpy," he noted as she stepped out of the room, the other girls in tow.

They arrived at the base in about twenty minutes and Amelia did a quick headcount. Everyone was there except AJ and Marley. She could already feel a headache coming on.

The moment that Mikey saw Sebastien, he jumped up from his seat and exclaimed, "I told you!"

"What are you talking about?" Seb asked as he sat down next to Chuck and Amelia.

"I told you that letting these girls in was a bad idea! I fucking told you! Does anyone ever listen to me? No, and now look at what's happened!" he yelled, his eyes twinkling with delight.

"What happened?" Chuck asked.

"Gerard and I went for coffee and guess who we saw in Starbucks? Your friend, the blonde! And guess who was with her? None other than William Beckett! I fucking told you, Sebastien! We should have just let her die, and then we wouldn't be in this mess! I -" Mikey said before Bob cut him off.

"Listen Mikey, I'm glad that you were actually right for once, but right now is not the time to be a pompous asshole and gloat about it. Now, you'd better sit your ass down before I use the Full Body Bind Curse on you," he said, pointing his wand at Mikey.

Mikey knew that Bob was serious, so he sat down.

"Well, now that that's done, let's get down to business, shall we? It seems that one of your friends has chosen her side, and unfortunately for her, it's the wrong side. We need to figure out how to proceed," Gerard said, ignoring his brother's outburst.

"Can I just say that I'm not really surprised? After that stunt she pulled after we all went to see Star Trek, I'm surprised she didn't do this sooner," Amelia said and the other girls nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but where the fuck is Marley?" Myeong says next, almost accusingly.

"Ten to one wherever AJ is. Notice how she was gone when we woke up?"

Everyone nodded.

"Okay, so that's two of us on the Dandies side - wait...we're already split, AJ proved it last night...we're all drawn to someone, that's how we get into this mess. It's by bands...that's how we can judge which side we're really on."

"And how many of you here are eventually going to the other side, according to that logic?"

"Well..." Amelia started, "Xena and Rose if they end up coming for the Panic show for sure, Marley, AJ-"

"Leaving Amelia and I on the other side." Myeong finished.

* * *

_(Back at the Dandies' mansion)_

"Mar- Marley? What the fuck are you doing here?" AJ called immediately the minute she and William walked into the foyer, seeing the brunette being twirled by Sisky, while some late 20's swing music played from the stereo in the back room.

"He called. I got bored. Amelia's driving me nuts, with all that hunting stuff. I kinda just wish we hadn't gotten involved at all, but then again this is kinda nice."

"Yeah, but there's another reason you're here, you heard Pete, they don't just do things just because."

"Did I forget to bring up we already had something planned for the two of you?" Sisky asked, to which Marley shook her head, confused.

"Told you so. So, there's plans after all?" AJ stuck her tongue out at the brunette, who did it right back before there came a knock at the door.

"Just in time."

"Who's just in time?"

"Company… Dear, it's for your benefit. Trust me. It's so my men will accept you, for the way you are now does not quite meet the Dandie standard." William explained.

"Dandie standard? The fuck is-"

"Adeline." William's tone was curt, reprimanding as he put one hand under her chin, making the blonde meet his gaze.

"Huh?" she stopped shorted.

He smiled, shaking his head slightly as he leaned in and gently kissed her forehead.

"That's one of the first things we'll be fixing. Your language and your tendency to shout. A lady does not need to raise her voice, it is enough for her to simply command every gentleman's attention the second her presence graces the room."

AJ only slapped her forehead, "Dear lord, you're a walking Victorian etiquette book."

William offered only a smile, "At least you've some idea what you're in for."

Adeline's faced visibly paled . Sisky ran to open it, smiling when in walked a lanky vampire accompanied by a pretty black haired girl.

"Gabe! Vicky! It's been forever! We've got new additions, too!"

"New additions?" the girl asks, voice light, full of curiosity.

"Yeah, well, he hasn't turned her yet, but she's got some abilities – her telekinesis can rival William's own. She's quite the looker, but her attitude and manners need adjusting – what you're here for, Vicky. Actually, both of them do," Sisky continued, motioning to Marley.

The female vampire laughed, and to Adeline it sounded almost perfect. I'll never be like that…

As AJ turned, the man named Gabe smiled as he took in the sight before him, tipping his hat to her.

"Ah, you must be Adeline." With a touch lighter than the girl's voice, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, looking to William, bowing slightly.

"It's been too long. This conference week has been insane."

"That it has. Victoria, I'll leave you and Adeline, Marley as well. Sisky, go fetch us a few wineglasses, would you? Gabriel and I have other matters to discuss," William said, turning to brush a hand against AJ's cheek, "Have fun, dear. And remember – listen in accordance to anything she says, I trust she'll turn you proper in better a few days' time."

Marley and AJ turned to each other with exasperated sighs, "This better be worth it."

"I. hate. this. Who ever thought these fans were a good idea in the first place needs to be shot." Marley complained as she twirled the small black lace fan around her wrist.

"And why is showing my ankles so bad?" AJ added, laughing at the current situation. It had only been an hour, and neither girl really wanted to be there anymore.

"No no no you two! Stand up straighter! Marley, these fans were used as a form of subtle communication, like today's flirting if the guy can pick it up. AJ, the ankle thing is just what was considered vulgar - although today, girls will run around with skirts halfway between their thighs and knees..."

"But why can't we wear things like that?" both said, not realizing how whiney it sounded.

"Because you're to be proper ladies, and you'll not be wearing stuff like that. Speaking of which, go find your new outfits. We'll continue this tomorrow. You guys did good today. I'd say another two should do it, you've got most of this down. Tomorrow we'll work on street skills."

"Street skills?" Marley wondered.

"Never mind the street skills, I wanna see the new outfits! GO!" AJ yelled, more or less vaulting to the next room and taking the stairs two at a dress that was laid out on the bed immediately caught her eye.

It was a simple but elegant black dress, with cap sleeves adorned with lace accents. The bottom part of the dress was tiered into four layers alternating between silk and lace, while the neckline of it seemed to hang slightly off her shoulders.

After changing into the dress, she slipped into the knee high socks that were also laid out, having white lace accents at the top. The shoes were plain black Mary Jane's, but had two straps instead of one. Beside this was a plain black headband, decorated with a simple bow.

She giggled, looking over herself in the mirror.

"Damn, I look good."

A soft laugh from the doorway caused her to jump, but the voice that spoke after calmed her.

"I'll say. Dear, you've got to be tired, come on, out of that."

"But I just-" she protested, and in three strides William stood in front of her, one of his hands on her cheek, "You need rest. I've no doubt your friends are looking for you. But stay here for a few days, in two, I promise things will change."

"Ch-change? H-How?" her voice had gone up an octave in worry, but at this he ruffled her hair and once again patted the bed, motioning for her to get into pajamas so they could have a little quiet time.

"What would the fun be if I told you?"

She huffed, slipping into a nightgown, then twisting into his arms as he picked her up and set her on the bed, "You're such a tease. So make me wait. Fun."

He smiled, kissing her nose.

"You know you love me."

* * *

"Hm. Looks like I was right. Three days and you've traded that denim and the low cut tops for layers of lace and silk, as a lady your age should," William mused as Adeline twirled in front of the mirror attached to the back of the master bedroom's door.

"But don't you think that if we ever do run into my old friends again, that all this'll...scare them?"

He smiled, kicked off his Oxfords and shrugged off his suit jacket, hanging it in the closet before turning back to the blonde, biding her come closer with a crooked finger, "My love, the new clothes will be the least of their worries once they see you smile."

"See me sm-...why would...I don't-" She stuttered, confused.

He laughed, reaching to undo the lacing on the back of the dress she wore, delicate fingers working the cords out of their loops with ease.

"I told you you'd be joining us before the week was over, dear. Did you for a moment ever think I'd lie?" She gasped, half in surprise, half in realization, "But that means...that tonight-"

He spun her around to face him, setting a finger against her lips as he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"That it does. You needn't worry, you're not the first of my sires. I won't hurt you, not fatally, in any course. Now, go on, into something comfortable you go. And then lie down."

AJ practically squealed out of excitement as she hastily undressed and re-dressed into a sleep shirt that was probably two sizes too big, then dove for the bed, giggling. William almost shook his head, unsure of how much he really wanted to do this.

"You know, it's funny. I really was sort of looking forward to this. Ever since I saw Twilight, but, I mean, I hope the transformation isn't quite that painful...you know, three days worth of an invisible fire licking at every surface of your skin only to have your heart collapse in on itself and then-"

He smiled as he climbed on the bed next to her, "It's never like the ways it's presented in movies, it's-"

"Better?" she tried, her voice actually sounding brighter.

He lightly rolled his eyes, "You'll find out, won't you? Now hush."

The average human heart beats 72 times a minute, and to have that decreased to nothing was of course, going to put her in some pain. If it was any consolation however, he knew how to fix that in the first place.

She was still for once, save for her breathing, which, he expected would have increased along with her heartbeat. But it seemed she was keeping calm, like she knew what she was getting herself into.

A small smile graced his lips as William realized she hadn't had time to get in the shower like she'd planned, her curls were tight and both knew they'd be knotted in a matter of hours.

"Mhm." he exhaled slowly, one hand caressing up her shoulder, thumb going across the smooth skin on her neck, feeling for the pulse point he knew was there. He felt her shudder as he finally found it and lightly put a fingernail to it, causing her to squeak.

"Easy. I'm being gentle," he assured, leaning down to kiss her before moving his head, until his mouth was over the spot he'd already marked. He almost smiled as he could literally feel the fear and anticipation radiating from her body, though she remained still.

"J-Just...d-don't kill me," she giggled nervously, biting her lip.

William looked up, kissed her nose, and then looked into her eyes, alarmed in the slightest to see apprehension in her hazel irises.

"I'll not. I've done this before, and Adeline, I assure you, you'll wake tomorrow in my arms."

"Mhm hm." she sighed, and closed her eyes, growing tired of waiting. William sensed this and returned to what he'd been about to do, fangs just poised to sink into her neck.

Another second, and that promise not to kill her might of came undone.

Just as he was finally about to take the bite however, another scream met his ears, and he was briefly aware that it wasn't the girl below him.

It had been  _Marley._


	11. Chapter 11

How could he had been so stupid? He'd told Adam specifically to wait, he needed to turn Adeline first before any of her friends were turned, in case their abilities eclipsed hers or other issues with the newborns were to arise.

Knowing Adeline had heard her as well, William knew the quickest way to solve the situation was to just do it.

So, taking maybe a second to get himself together, he opened his mouth and bit down, trying to block out Adeline's cry as he did so.

This pain is worse, worse than however many injuries she'd picked up over the years of being on the cross-country team. It's like when the doctors give you shots, but the needle isn't letting all the liquid through at one time, so they have to work it until it goes. An initial prick, then – burning, as though every vein was on fire.

She knew the burning would come first, then the numbing paralysis – if Twilight was in anyway accurate in that way. She closed her eyes and just tried to remember she'd wanted this – and this was the price that was to be paid. Shortly thereafter, there was no burning, no numbness. But on the other hand, there was an overwhelming feeling of lust.

 _"I…I'm so…I want…no, I need…I…"_  she stuttered, startled when she realized she hadn't even opened her mouth to talk.

 _"I know, my love. It's the first of your hunger pains, they'll subside after some time. Open your eyes, it's over. You just need to feed for the transformation to complete."_  William's voice rang in her head, and with a smile, she realized her abilities now included telepathy in addition to the telekinesis.

 _"F-Feed?"_  she opened her eyes, surprised that everything just seemed – clearer. Like getting lasik when you finally trade your glasses in.

William smiled, leaning in to kiss her lips, surprised the initial bite on her neck had already faded somewhat – her healing abilities were better than most of his men already. Taking a finger and drawing it across his forearm, he winced slightly as scarlet immediately filled the line.

"Go on."

She almost grinned, revealing sharpened canines, though her fangs were smaller than his own.

"You're beautiful." He murmured, managing to run his free hand through her hair once before she turned and pounced, her hands to his shoulders and her mouth to his arm.

He gave a slight growl, having not expected the blonde to be so eager. But then again, in retrospect, his first meal hadn't exactly expected him to pounce like he had, either. When he could feel a headache coming on and the room began to get fuzzy around the edges, he coaxed her away.

Her head lifted and he saw her eyes were clouded, both with adrenalin and the hunger that hadn't yet subsided.

"You want more, don't you?" he asked, knowing she'd take it exactly the way he hadn't intended.

She only nodded and licked the blood off her lips, flexing her fingers and tilting her head, much like a dog when it picks up a scent it wants to follow.

William smirked, flipping her with ease so he was on top of her. She gasped slightly at the sudden change, managed to get the first syllable of his name out before she whimpered, whatever high she was on obviously clouding her thoughts.

"I know, sweetheart. Your head's not going to clear tonight, not with the high you're on. It'll take awhile for you to settle when I'm done with you."

Dark, sheer soft velvet seduction. Had I ever imagined this? AJ was lost, perhaps it had been William's last sentence that had messed her concentration up, he was pretty much telling her she was his from then on.

She looked up at him, gaze drifting to his lips as he pulled the sleep shirt over her head in one movement. She yelped and instinctively lowered her hands to try and cover her body, only causing the elder vampire to laugh.

"Doll, you needn't be ashamed of yourself and try to hide away - you're perfect, your skin's no longer tainted with the glow of mortality." and as he said this, one of his hands reached for her hip, nails digging into the soft skin, causing her to throw her head back against the pillow and whine.

"I...I'm not...this is different from the first time though..." she said softly, sitting up and looking around to see whatever else had changed.

William nodded, and had maybe two seconds to bite his lip to stop the groan of satisfaction as she undid his belt and practically went for the zipper with her teeth.

"Someone's a little impatient, isn't she?" he mused, laughing slightly as she went for his shirt, tugging it over his head.

And then fell back onto the pillows, seemingly star struck as he tugged off his pants and threw them to the floor, along with his boxers.

"I've seen enough pictures, but damn, boy...I can't even...ufhmf...you're the perfect one here, no doubt." Great. She was fangirling, at perhaps the worst time.

"W-well." He sputtered, absentmindedly thinking back to the news that had landed Fall Out Boy and a particular bassist in trouble for awhile, "There's things you haven't seen, pictures or not."

She giggled, arms reaching to go around his neck, pulling him down on top of her.

"Where was this foreplay the first time I let you screw me?"

He shook his head and sighed, "...The shower. And that's still one thing we'll have to work on, my dear. You need to learn patience."

She huffed and rolled her eyes, her legs locking around his, one hand tugging his head to her neck.

"Don't lecture me about patience when you've got me in a very provocative position...If you stop this now, I may never forgive you."

"At least you're not drunk. You know what's -" he paused, leaning into her, head in the crook of her neck, arms braced on either side of her head as he shifted against her, "going to happen."

She gave a little whimper then, perhaps in anticipation, but grinned and asked as calmly as she could without falling into a fit of giggles, "Fuck me?"

* * *

"A-Adam...m-my head..." Marley moaned, putting a hand to her head. The room had finally stopped spinning, but she still felt odd, even after he'd let her bit him.

"It's okay, everyone's like that. It'll stop soon. Here, drink."

Marley grabbed at the glass he offered to her and downed it without another thought, only to cough and spit it out seconds later.

"Wh-what the hell?"

Sisky laughed, ruffling her hair, leaning in to take the glass back before he kissed her, slow and meaningfully.

"Blood. I don't know why you're reacting badly to this, you seemed to like mine just fine," he observed, reaching to rest a hand against her cheek.

She smiled, putting her hand over his own, shocked when she felt an overwhelming sensation of pride and love.

 _These aren't my emotions...how._..Marley moved her hand, the emotions faded, when Marley touched him again, the feelings came back.

"Adam...I...you're proud of what you did...that you turned me, aren't you?" she asked, testing her theory.

"Yeah, why? How did you know? You're the first person, so I'm surprised you're still alive, honestly." he laughed.

Marley nodded, "I think I just found my ability...I can sense people's emotions...like when I touched your hand, I could feel what you were feeling."

He smiled.

"That's amazing! And your friend is telekinetic, right? William's going to have a fun time with that..."

"I'll bet. So...what now, that you've turned me?"

His smile grew, revealing his fangs, and he used his ability to make the shadows that the light of the moon created as it passed through the drapes dance, much to Marley's amusement.

"Well...we don't need sleep...and you haven't properly had sex with me, last time you were drinking, that doesn't count."

Her eyes widened and she gasped slightly at how forward the invite had been, but a few seconds later she was straddling him, clearly wanting him to continue the night's agenda.

The following morning both girls found themselves tangled between the sheets, their lover's arms around them, eyes closed, feigning sleep.

"Silly. You said we didn't need sleep." Marley singsonged, poking at his forehead until his eyes opened and he grinned lazily.

"Well come on, the other probably want to see the new you. Ability included!"

Marley giggled as Sisky kissed her nose then swung his legs over the side of the bed, stretching.

* * *

Across the hall, it was clear who had had the better stamina gauge, because William sat up against the headboard, Adeline's arm draped across his chest, her curly hair knotted and snared, her eyes closed with a peaceful, blissfully calm aura around her.

"Adeline...love? It's morning...come now, up." William coaxed, trying to get her to lift her head.

She yawned and smiled as she looked at her body, taking in the number of bruises and bite marks on her pale skin. She leaned it to kiss him, absentmindedly raking a hand down his chest, causing him to say her name again, albeit in a chastising tone.

"Is somebody afraid of what the poor little newborn vampire can do? I already know I have telekinetic powers...I want to see if my powers of suggestion are just as good."

"No. Well, not now. Later, I promise. Tonight, there's a special plan for you and your friend, now that you've turned."

"What plan?!" she asked excitedly, getting up and tugging on the shirt he'd worn the night before.

"Come on, go downstairs and we'll see. I'm sure the boys will want to see the girl that's managed to catch my eye over this conference weekend."

Meanwhile, Brendon and the rest of Panic were downstairs, watching some baseball game on one of the TVs.

"...it's funny how we haven't seen Siska or Beckett all day...and the rest of TAI just seem...uneasy. Well, not uneasy, but -" Spencer began.

"It's not fun when you can sense your friends are about to get laid," Carden added, walking in from the kitchen, a glass of blood in his hand.

"Wait, what? Those girls are human! They should be killed!" Ryan protested.

"Nope. They're being turned, they have abilities...Beckett's girl is a psychokinetic, Sisky's is an empath."

"Empath? She's like me?" Jon asked, now interested.

"Not exactly...here, let her explain, here she comes."

"Morning." Both AJ and Marley curtsied to the group before them, then began laughing after.

"So...I know my telekinesis has improved, but Marley, what happened to you?" AJ asked.

"Oh. I...I can sense emotions if I touch somebody...nothing special I guess."

"Never mind that, William said something about plan now that we've both turned?"

"Well, we know another concert is coming up, this one's two birds with one stone. Both Simple Plan and My Chemical Romance are playing tonight, and since the two of you have found your abilities, it's a good a night as any to get you really involved in the action."

"Meaning?" Marley asked, leaning against Sisky, still looking around.

"We get to fight? Good…I'd rather like to show the rest of them what I'm capable of. Especially Amelia, you saw how she reacted…it'll be fun to shake her up, and who knows maybe I can do some mental damage while I'm at it." AJ interjected before the rest of the guys laughed.

"You weren't kidding, she really is like you, William." Carden looked between the blonde and the taller Dandie, who only shrugged, "That's not the worst thing that could've came from this, I suppose."

"Wait wait wait….Marley – we should divide up, if you go after Amelia, we know she likes Seb, and Myeong should be with Pete..."

"But what about Rose and Xena?."

"Oh…right…well, fuck th-" AJ yelped, for a moment she had to think of why she had before she realized she'd swore and in turn yelped because someone had smacked her ass, akin to spraying a dog with water when it does something bad.

She bit her lip and turned her head, not surprised to see William give her a disapproving look before nodding, "That's something we'll half to continue to work on. Your language. That being said," he paused and smiled, lightly pulling at the ribbon around her neck to draw her in for a kiss, "Be mindful not to do it again."

"But I can't he-"

Marley elbowed her in the ribs, stopping the spat before it became too 'cute' to watch.

"So…is there a point to interrupting the concerts, or are we just there to create trouble?" Brendon asked.

William sighed as though he found the question amusing.

"I should think you've been in this coven long enough to understand we never do things without a reason, Brendon. Our point? Kidnap the girl my lady is so keen on tormenting. I figure the rest of her brood will come after us then, to which we can divide them further – as Ryan is apt to turn the onethat is constantly being brought up, though he doesn't know much about her as of yet, seeing as she hasn't joined the rest of the girls."

"And Ryan, Brendon – you guys are talking about Xena and Rose…" Marley explained.

"Wait…if I'm still with William by the end of the week, and Amelia has Seb…you're with Sisky, and we all know Myeong had sex with Pete…" AJ continued.

"Fucking shit. We're divided enough the way it is!" Marley exclaimed, realization finally hitting.

"And we have to go back to Barrington in a-"

"Spring Break ended yesterday. How has nobody noticed we're-"

"What about the trophies? Our parents? Grades!"

Both pause, before exchanging horrified looks, "PROM!"

"Would. You. Two. Stop. Talking. In. Fragments?" Jon said, annoyed.

"Girls, settle. It's been taken care of, I assure you. No-one will even notice you've been gone. It'll be like you never existed. Perks of being immortal, you circumvent certain things. Nobody questions name changes or school transfers anymore if you're old enough to play the part." William explained to both girls, who were wide eyed.

"Name changes? Wh-what?"

"Well, legally you're of age to be married, so we took the liberty of getting you into this coven for life. Your last names are ours. Well, it's Marley Collins Siska and Adeline Jeanette Winters Beckett, but in any case…" Spencer started.

"You graduated a semester early from Harper High, so your credentials are fixed to get into a nice college if you'd like. Funny how this is all done already, but that's what happens when we chose mates." The Butcher finished, smiling as both girls turned to William.

"How'd you even-"

"When you're as old as we are, it's no longer about what you know – it's who. I…have a certain amount of influence under some individuals in the government, where we accessed your records and went from there. If I explain much more, I'm afraid neither of you would trust me, so I'll leave it at that. But go on, you two need to find outfits to wear tonight – and seeing as your classes are done, I'll give you the day to explore here. Just be mindful to your teenage tendencies, even vampires turned at your age are still clumsy."

"We're not going to break anything!" both girls complained, though they laughed as they ran back into their rooms, looking through their closets for something to wear.


	12. Chapter 12

The events of the past few days had severely stressed Amelia out. All she wanted to do was go home, but since it didn't look like that would be happening, she opted for the next best thing. She went to the My Chemical Romance and Simple Plan concerts, as somehow, the boys had managed yet another gig that week. Since the other girls were off doing who-knows-what, she decided to go by herself. She texted Chuck early in the day and he thought that was a great idea that she come to the concert. He came to pick her up about two hours before the concert began and they rode to the venue. It was a dark and gloomy day.

"So, Seb was thinking that you could watch the show from backstage and hang out with My Chem while we are on stage, and then once we're done, you can hang with us and we'll take you back to the hotel. Does that sound okay?" Chuck asked as the two went into the back entrance of the venue.

"That sounds great. Thanks so much!" Amelia replied.

It didn't take long for them to find everyone. David and Pierre were causing quite the ruckus. They were each using their respective elements to try and play Extreme Hackey Sack with Frank, Seb, Mikey, and Ray. Jeff, Bob, and Gerard were standing on the side, watching. As soon as the two of them entered the backstage area, David used a blast of air to send the hackey sack flying towards Amelia. Thinking fast, Amelia drew up a stream of water and hit the hacky sack like a baseball back towards Pierre.

"Nice shot!" Seb called as he walked over and hugged Amelia.

Since they had quite some time before the show started, Amelia showed off some of her magic tricks, which left everyone pretty impressed. Before they knew it, it was time for Simple Plan to take the stage! Amelia wished the boys luck and stood with My Chem to watch the set. It was a great show, full of tons of energy! Though she knew she was in good hands with My Chem, Amelia still couldn't help feeling nervous. There was something that was telling her that something bad was going to happen, but she shook it off and attributed it to stress. She tried to have fun and eventually, she lost herself in the music and had a great time.

Then it was time for My Chem to start getting ready. Amelia walked back with them to the dressing room while Simple Plan finished up their set. As soon as My Chem was ready to go, Frank agreed to walk with her to the outdoor area where Simple Plan was signing autographs and such. She walked ahead, eager to go congratulate her new friends o their great show! Frank trailed behind her. She had just entered the long hallway that would lead to outside, when suddenly, a bolt of lightning came flying at her!

Frank jumped in front of her just in time to redirect the path of the lightning, which blasted a hole in the wall. Walking towards Amelia and Frank was Michael Guy Chislett, a small flame dancing on his palm.

"Shit, this isn't good," Frank cursed as he and Amelia backed up. "Amelia, listen to me. I want you to run as far away from here as you can. Find Mikey and Gerard, okay? I'll hold him off."

"Aw, running away so soon, sheila? What's wrong, scared to get burned again?" Michael laughed.

"Trust me, the only one who's going to get burned is you," Frank said as he stepped forward. Amelia spun on her heels and took off running. All of the sudden, she felt someone grab her arm and turn in place. She felt like she was falling through space, so she shut her eyes to avoid throwing up. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in the back parking lot by the buses. She looked to see who had grabbed her and was relieved to see Bob. He held his wand out in front of him and his eyes were full of worry.

"Bob, how did you find me?" she asked

"I had a feeling that something like this would happen. Those bastards ambushed us at our own concert! I followed you and Frank, just in case. When I saw Chislett, I knew I had to get you to safety. We should be okay," he said as he placed Amelia behind him without loosening his grip on her arm.

"It's so dark, I can barely see," Amelia complained. The thick clouds completely obscured any light the moon would have provided and a cold wind blew through the air.

With a flick of his wrist, Bob illuminated the end of his wand and scanned the area. No sign of anything yet. Suddenly, Bob cast a spell which sent out a blast from the end of his wand.

"What's wrong?" Amelia asked, alarmed.

"Thought I saw something. Stay alert," he replied as he pointed his wand up in the air and sent up a shower of red sparks.

"If you didn't want Beckett to find us, why did you just send up sparks? Seems counterproductive to me."

"It's sort of like a signal. I figure that since Seb and the others are outside, they'll see it. It's sort of like a call for help, so they'll know that we're in trouble," Bob explained.

A crash from near one of the buses startled both of them. Walking towards them was Michael Guy Chislett.

After the show, the guys walked offstage to the outdoor area where they would be doing a meet and greet event. As they walked outside, they all shivered as a cold wind blew. Before the fans got there, they had a few minutes to talk to each other.

"Hey guys, is it just me, or did you get a weird feeling on stage?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah, it was more than just nerves or excitement. It was like - " Pierre started.

"Like something bad was going to happen. Like someone was here that wasn't supposed to be," Sebastien finished.

"What do you think it means?" David asked.

"I'm not sure, but let's stay on guard," Sebastien said and everyone agreed.

Soon, the fans arrived and the guys mingled with everyone. Just when they thought things were finally going to be all right, something caught Sebastien's eye. In the distance, he saw a jet of red sparks fly up into the air and hover for a moment before disappearing. His eyes widened. That could only mean one thing: trouble.

He looked over at Chuck, who was staring at the sky with the same horrified expression.

"Did you see that?" he asked.

Chuck nodded.

"We have to go. We'll be right back," Chuck told the others.

He and Sebastien took off running in the direction that they had seen the sparks come from. Seb kept his nose to the sky, searching for the wizard's scent.

They ran as fast as they could, but to their frustration, it felt like they weren't getting anywhere. It felt like time was slowing right around them.

"Chuck, wait. It feels like we're moving slower. We should have been there by now," Seb said as he stopped running.

"I know what you mean. That door over there isn't getting any closer," he replied.

"Wow, it sure took you long enough!" said a voice.

Walking towards them was The Butcher and Mike Carden. Seb's upper lip immediately curled in a snarl as he bared his teeth.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded as Chuck readied a stream of water at his side.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," Mike Carden replied as he walked towards the two.

The fact that Michael Guy Chislett was walking towards them wasn't a good sign.

"What did you do to Frank?" Amelia demanded.

"Oh, him? Don't worry, I took care of him. Right now, it's all about us," he replied with a dangerous grin.

"I'm warning you, if you take another step, this isn't going to end well for you," Bob threatened as he brandished his wand.

"Funny, I was just about to say the same thing," he replied as he hurled a curse at Bob.

Bob easily deflected the curse with a Shield Charm. Amelia readied a whip of water, but Bob shook his head.

"Let me handle this, okay?" he asked as he shot another spell at Chislett.

"Is that really all you've got, mate? You're going to have to do better than that to beat me!" Chislett taunted.

"Okay, how about this?" Bob replied as he held his wand in front of him. He muttered a silent apology before he yelled the word "Sectumsempra!"

He drew a slash in the air with his wand, which caused a bloody wound to appear on Chislett's body. He faltered slightly, but then grinned. He first used a Disarming Charm, which caused Bob's wand to fly out of his hand. Before Bob could recover, he hit him with a Stunning Spell, followed by Sectumsempra! Now there was no one left to protect Amelia as Chislett closed in on her.

* * *

While Amelia was having problems with Michael Guy Chislett, Mikey and Gerard were having problems of their own. Frank had contacted Gerard through telepathy and alerted him that William Beckett and his men had infiltrated the concert and it seemed that they were after Amelia! After telling Ray to go find Seb and his friends and tell them what had happened and telling Bob to find Amelia and keep her safe, the brothers went straight to the source of the trouble, William Beckett.

Not surprisingly, he was strumming Frank's guitar and singing a song. Amelia's blonde haired friend, the one from the coffee shop, stood next to him. Gerard walked towards him.

"Better put down that guitar, Beckett," he said calmly.

"Ah, and if it isn't the Way brothers. How do you do?" William replied as he set the guitar down and walked toward Gerard and Mikey.

"I don't know how the fuck you managed to get in, but you'd better leave, right now," Mikey growled.

"What if we don't want to leave?" AJ challenged, voice light but in the same tone the boys had become accustomed to from Beckett.

"Then we'll have to make you!" Gerard declared as he and Mikey ran at the pair.

"Try me!" the blonde exclaimed gleefully, smiling as she motioned to something off to the side.

Before William could say anything to stop her, she had sent a Marshall half-stack amp flying towards Mikey.

Gerard managed to pull his brother out of the way seconds before it would have knocked him out cold.

"So you have telepathic powers, so what. It's not going to stop me from ripping your throat out in front of your boyfriend," he continued, only glaring at the other vampire, who stood beside the girl, one arm around her waist.

"To get to her you're going to have to go through me, and since you can't even get to me, we both know this is pointless."

"Pointless isn't your game! We've all heard the stories...we know your group better than you do!" Mikey shouted, again taking a running start towards the girl, surprised when Gerard grabbed for his arm to stop him.

"What the hell, man?"

"Listen." Gerard had turned to his younger brother, talking so William and AJ couldn't hear, "We're never going to get the both of them at once...best bet we have is if we separate them...you can go after the girl, I'll handle Beckett."

"Yeah, like that'll work, I'll bet-"

At the resulting shriek the two heard from the girl, they turned to see William holding her, one hand tight in her hair, the other around her neck.

"Adeline, you're a lady, not an animal. You're not running off after your prey, do you understand?"

She whimpered, but then huffed in defiance.

"But baby! I smell blood! I told you to let me test myself earlier...but n-no...you had to be in charge. If we'd had our time before, I wouldn't want to go out now!" her voice rose, dispute his hand still around her throat.

He only blinked, releasing his grip.

"You're staying by me. And it's time we left, the rest of the boys should have finished the excursion."

"But I want t-"

"If I hear another word, you have your own room for the next three nights."

And with a nod, the blonde turned to Gerard and Mikey.

"Well, as much as I'd like to continue annoying you, we've got to go. Au revoir!"


	13. Chapter 13

Gerard had told Ray to go find Seb and his friends and tell them what had happened. He ran towards the exit that he had seen them leave from as fast as he could. By the time he had made it through the large crowd, he was out of breath. He walked over to where Pierre, David, and Jeff were standing.

"Ray, are you okay? What's wrong?" Pierre asked as soon as he saw the curly haired oni.

"William Beckett and his men are here! I don't know what they want, but it's gotta mean trouble," he replied, gasping for breath. Everyone paled slightly at his words.

"That makes sense now. Chuck and Sebastien ran off a little while ago, but we don't know where they went. That would explain the weird feeling we got on stage, like someone was here that shouldn't have been," Jeff explained.

Ray nodded. "I know. We felt the same thing too."

"Oh yeah, and now that I think about it, I saw red sparks in the air just before Seb and Chuck ran off," David added.

"What?! Really? Oh man, that's not good. Those red sparks mean that Bob is in trouble. Do you know where the sparks came from?" Ray asked.

"I think they came from that way," David said, pointing off in the distance.

"Let's go!" Ray declared and everyone raced in the direction that David had pointed.

Chuck and Sebastien were busy fighting both the Butcher and Mike Carden. Just as they were about to finish the two vampires off, they simply stopped fighting and disappeared. Chuck and Seb looked at one another and shrugged. They took off again in the direction that they had seen the sparks. As they neared the location, Seb became distraught because he could smell blood, and a lot of it. He could only hope that it wasn't Amelia's.

When they got to the back area by the buses, Seb noticed someone's crumpled form laying on the ground. That was where the smell of blood was coming from. He sprinted and was horrified by what he saw.

"Bob!" he exclaimed as he knelt next to the fallen wizard. Beside him, Chuck cursed in French.

Bob appeared to be unconscious and there were several long gashes running the length of his torso.

He lay in a pool of his own blood. His skin was deathly pale and there was visible perspiration on his forehead and neck. Chuck immediately felt for a pulse. Bob's skin was clammy to the touch.

"His pulse must be really weak. I can barely hear it," Sebastien said, confirming what Chuck had found.

Bob's eyes fluttered open. His pupils were dilated and his gaze was unfocused.

"Bob, what happened? Where's Amelia?" Sebastien demanded.

"W-w-wand..." he muttered, pointing his hand towards one of the buses. Seb looked where he was pointing and could make out the shape of a wand laying on the ground. He scampered over and picked up the wand. He ran back over and handed it to Bob, who held onto it for dear life. Chuck tried to start healing Bob's wounds with Waterbending, but to his frustration, nothing happened. The wounds kept bleeding.

"Seb, I need you to keep talking to him, okay? Don't let him pass out again," Chuck instructed.

"Bob, what happened? Where's Amelia?" Seb asked again.

He took in a shaky breath.

"G-gone. She's g-gone."

"WHAT?! What do you mean, she's gone?!" Seb exclaimed.

Bob took in another weak breath.

"D-D-Dandies...ambush...took her..."

Sebastien jumped to his feet and ran his fingers angrily through his hair.

"Oh my god, this isn't good!"

Before he could say anything else, he heard footsteps approaching. He looked up and saw Mikey and Gerard walking towards them. Gerard was supporting an injured Frank.

"What happened?" Mikey demanded.

"When we were outside, we were waiting for Amelia but then we saw red sparks in the air. We ran over here, but Carden and the Butcher stopped us. When we finally got here, we found Bob like this," Seb said, gesturing to Bob.

"Oh my god...those bastards!" Mikey yelled.

"Chuck, can't you heal him?" Frank asked, wincing as though the effort of talking had hurt him

"I'm trying my best, but the water isn't doing anything. I'm not sure there's anything I can do," Chuck admitted.

"Can't you stop the bleeding or anything?" Gerard asked.

"I can try using bloodbending, though I really hate doing it" Chuck replied.

Chuck held his closed fist over Bob's torso and concentrated. He slowly opened his fingers and when his hand was completely open, to everyone' relief, the blood stopped flowing.

"I can stay like this until we can get someone to heal him."

Just as Gerard was about to say something, Ray, Pierre, Jeff, and David appeared. Chuck and Seb explained what had happened. Then Mikey asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Seb, where's Amelia?"

Seb was quiet for a moment before he mumbled, "They took her."

"What?" Pierre asked.

"THEY TOOK HER! I can't believe those goddamned bastards took her! I swore that I was going to keep her safe!" Seb yelled, frustrated by the turn of events.

"Whoa, Seb, calm down. It's not like we could have predicted that this was going to happen. Besides, we'll worry about that later. We need to get help for Bob, unless..." Gerard said, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"I say we take him back onto one of the buses and try to stabilize him. Gerard, while we do that, I want you to go get Patrick and the others," Chuck instructed.

Gerard nodded. He passed Frank off to Mikey and disappeared. Meanwhile, Sebastien gingerly lifted the injured wizard and carried him to My Chem's bus. Ray punched in the security code and everyone entered.

They laid Bob down on the couch.

"Okay, Mikey, I need you to get the thickest blanket that you have and cover him with it to keep him warm. Pierre, take those pillows and elevate his feet. Frank, sit down here. Now all we have to do is wait until Gerard comes back," Chuck said, still concentrating on stopping the blood flow.

Everyone did as they were told. Mikey went to the fridge and gave blood bags to both David and Frank. Minutes later, Gerard returned with Pete, Patrick, Andy, and Joe.

"I already explained what happened on the way," Gerard said as they filed in. He went in the fridge and got two more blood bags, one for him and one for Pete.

"So, I've managed to stop the blood from flowing out of his wounds, but now we need someone to heal him because my Waterbending wasn't able to heal him," Chuck explained.

"Well, you aren't able to heal it because of the type of spell that was used," Andy stated.

"What do you mean?" Mikey asked

"Well," he said, stepping forward and removing the blanket from Bob's body, "these wounds here were caused by a Dark Magic spell called Sectumsempra and the only way for it to be healed is through the use of a special spell, one which I happen to know."

"Wait, you're a wizard too?" David asked, confused

"Yes and no. I'm not a pure-blood wizard like Bob. I'm a half-blood wizard from my mom's side. When I was younger, my mom taught me healing spells, so I know how to help Bob. Chuck, you can let the blood flow again, okay? I'll take it from here," Andy said, pulling a wand from his pocket.

Chuck nodded and released his hold over the blood. Andy quickly began mumbling a spell and to everyone listening, it sounded like a song. Instantly, Bob's skin began to stitch itself back together and the color returned to his body. While Andy was healing Bob, Chuck walked over to Frank, who was sitting on a chair. His hands were on his knees and he was leaning forward.

"What happened to you?" Chuck asked.

"That Australian bastard got me good. At first, we were only fighting with fire, but then he busted out some wicked Earthbending. Completely knocked me on my ass, probably broke some ribs. It hurts like a bitch to talk. Good thing I don't need to breathe anymore," he remarked dryly.

Chuck was able to heal the broken bones with Waterbending. Once he and Andy were done, Andy applied a salve to Bob's wounds and gave him a potion which, according to Andy, would restore all of the blood in his body. After that, everyone gathered to talk.

"So, what do we want to do? They've taken one of our own and almost killed another," Patrick started.

"I say we kill 'em. Every single one of those bastards," Seb said and Mikey nodded in agreement.

"While I agree, we need a better plan than that. It doesn't look like we can do anything more tonight, so let's just call it a night and try to come up with a plan tomorrow," Gerard suggested and everyone agreed.

'Don't worry, we'll get you back, Amelia. I swear,' Seb thought as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"That was way too easy. You think they would up more of a fight than that!" Marley complained as she and AJ sat in one of the back rooms, each curled up in armchairs, waiting for the boys to finish some meeting.

"You really think it was a good idea to lock her in the basement? She could just climb out a window or something, we both know she was on the gymnastics team and knows how to contort herself."

Marley shrugged, "If'd been up to me, I'd just kept her in a spare bedroom, like that one Bandom fic you wrote where you had William locked up in your closet and we always joked you'd forget about him and two months later he'd come out queerer than Neil Patrick Harris."

The slap of AJ's palm hitting her forehead made both girls laugh as the younger one sighed.

"Oh my god...you better hope they don't find out about the fanfics. That would be so so bad."

Marley nodded just as her phone went off.

"Who the fuck-"

"It's Xena. What's she calling for? Hello?"

_"Hey, dumbass did you really think we wouldn't be able to find the mansion that Amelia's told us so much about? Just thought we'd stop by and say hello...Rose and are I gonna go shopping before the Panic concert tonight, turns out we can stay a few days after all. From what Amelia's told us, man, you guys better be ready for whatever happens - the rest of the hunters are fucking pissed that you guys grabbed her. Simple Plan and My Chem are about ready to murder people...and I'm sure Fall Out Boy wouldn't oppose the idea."_

_"But Patrick's a sweetheart!"_ the girls heard Rose chime for the other end of the line.

"Fuck, what'd you do, make this a conference call? That's so 80's!" AJ added as Marley had put it on speaker.

 _"Actually, yeah, we did. Say hey, guys."_  Xena supplied.

"Sup, Santi?" Marley.

 _"Ditto?"_  Rose.

 _"Uh, hi, I hate you all._ " Myeong.

"So who's paying for this?" AJ.

_"Never mind who's paying! Rose and I are going shopping. Myeong is-"_

_"Going to try to talk Pete out of killing AJ the moment he sees her again,"_  she deadpanned.

"And you think you'll be able to do that why? Case you guys haven't figured it out, I'm one of them now. And Myeong - heh, get Pete to turn you ASAP, the...well, nightly agenda get way better when your stamina's match, trust me."

"Says the girl who promptly tripped down an entire flight out stairs because she'd been 'worn-out' and 'didn't know they were there'." Marley added, laughing.

 _"Yeah, and then she'll say she couldn't walk straight, right?"_ Myeong giggled, knowing all too well the shorter blonde would be blushing scarlet.

"Oh my god, I hate you all. Can we please stop talking about my - I can't. You guys are impossible."

 _"Yeah, well. You brought it up. And I think you're rubbing off on Myeong. She's just as bad already, if not worse."_ Xena countered.

_"Like?"_

_"Let's just say she's worse than the internet when THOSE photos broke."_ Rose added.

" _So? I'm allowed to talk."_ Myeong snapped back.

"Lucky...we're not even allowed to swear anymore...if the boys are around anyways, if not, fuck th-"

"ADELINE!" William, being the meeting had ended, had more or less been within earshot.

"Motherfu-" AJ started, cringing as she thought of how exactly William was supposed to get her to stop swearing anytime soon.

 _"Holy shit. Heh, Vulcan hearing much?"_ Xena's collapsed into a fit of laughter, the phone was handed off, "Well, we gotta go. I'll try back later tonight...though I doubt either of you will pick up."

With that, somebody on the other end (most likely Rose or Myeong) hung up.

AJ only stared at the phone in Marley's hand.

"I knew Spring Break was a bad idea...we should've just gone to Disney World or something..."

Marley laughed, getting up and stretching before walking towards the kitchen, "I'm getting a glass, you want one? And in retrospect, you're probably right."

AJ smiled, lyrics instantly coming to mind, "Without hindsight, I guess it serves me right."

 


	14. Chapter 14

"Ah, I freaking love this weather!" Xena shouted as soon as the three were outside in the sun, sunlight bouncing off the taller buildings around them.

"Yeah, not too warm, not too cool...I'm so glad it's not winter. Winter in Chicago sucks." Rose added, slipping black sunglasses on to shield her brown eyes.

"Well, wait 'til we're turned, then nothing'll bother us anymore."

"You say that like you expect us to get bit. I mean, are we really that stupid?"

"No, but Panic at the Disco is involved and with the way we're infatuated with 'Ryden' and the daydreams and the fanfics, I won't be surprised."

The two turned a corner, and Rose grabbed Xena's hand and took off, skidding to a stop before a little store, pastel dresses and sun hats and flowery belts hanging in the window.

"My fucking god. Look at all the scarves. Look!" Xena pointed out, laughing.

"Oh no...and we were just talking about Ry- holy shit. Speak of the damn devil. He look familiar?"

"Yeah, actually - that's him. Wonder what they're doing around here...is it just him?" Rose wondered.

"Yea-no." Xena stopped short, having felt someone tap her shoulder. Turning around, she nearly fainted.

"It's nice to see you two ladies, we've heard so much about you," Brendon mused with an inviting smile.

"Ryan can't stop talking about you, though he's never met you...in fact, though it's by pure chance that we've run into you, would you all want to go for lunch? We'll buy."

Xena and Rose both nodded, "Yeah, we were just going to go look in this shop though, I mean, it looks like Ryan's found stuff even - he's got a handful of scarves..."

"Yeah, but he already has a drawer full at home," Brendon sighed, "Oh well. Come on, let's all go look, if you find anything, we'll pay for it. And then we can go for lunch."

"Alright."

The two girls took off into the store, Brendon following behind, whistling, unable to hide the smile at the fact that the conference week was actually allowing everyone to get hooked up.

"So, you girls know vampires are real, right?" Ryan asked as each of the girls nodded, one reaching for her salad fork, the other lifting a can of diet coke to her lips.

"Obviously. I mean, from what we've heard, all of our friends are hooking up - Amelia and Seb, Myeong and Pete, and as far as we know AJ and Beckett are a thing, and so are Sisky and Marley..." Xena said.

Brendon pretended to gag.

Rose laughed, "So, you guys are sick of it too? All the flirting around you when you're alone? I know how that feels."

"So do I." Xena commented, picking at the fringe of the scarf she'd bought, Ryan had taught her how to tie it to hang like the way he always wore his.

"Not anymore, you won't." Ryan stated, an almost playful threat in his voice, "Because, well, if you guys wouldn't mind, we'd...kind of like to take you back to the mansion with us, so you could talk to the friends you haven't seen in awhile, and maybe-"

"Maybe you like to get to know us a bit more, considering you've hopefully decided to join us," Brendon finished. They both smiled.

"Yeah. That sounds like it'd be alright, I mean, you know I like you," Rose started, "And Xena clearly fell for Ryan, that we can all tell," she added at the sight of Ryan softly tugging at the scarf around the other girl's neck, as if to tease her, "And truth be told, you Dandies all don't seem as bad as people say."

Ryan laughed.

"It's about time we've heard that. You two will be fine."

(back at the Hunter's base)

"Why hasn't anyone called? It's like AJ and Marley at the TAI concert all over again, and we know how that ended up," Myeong asked, worried. She turned at the sound of the techie swearing, glaring at the screen he was looking at.

"Patrick, what happened now?"

"Ugh...our informant guy, Dirty, just got into with the punks again, sent me a video over the phone...looks like the boys and I might have to go sort some things out...but then, that's not the worst part...you're looking for some of your friends, right? Rose and Xena?" he wondered, worry evident in his voice.

Myeong swallowed back the lump in her throat, "Y-Yeah, why? Don't tell me they're dead."

Patrick smile sadly, "They're alive, but I'd almost prefer to say they're dead...they...it looks like they pulled whatever AJ and Marley did, because this video shows them walking off with Panic! at the Disco."

She sighed, "Damn. Here we go again. Come on, we might as well help you guys get this one cleared up."

"Actually, Pete wanted to talk to you, he sounded like whatever it is is really important. He's upstairs in his room, like always," Patrick added.

"I'll go see what he wants in a bit, but first I want to go talk to the guys."

Meanwhile, My Chemical Romance and Simple Plan were more or less all chilling out in the basement,

now that the concerts were over it was just time to kick back - unless of course, you were taking off vampire's heads, but that was besides the point. Amanda had decided to break the Angry birds record on her IPhone, so she sat between Frank and Gerard on the large sofa in front of the TV.

"Rainbow Road? REALLY? You're asking to get murdered." Ray brought up as he watched Frank select what everyone knew was the most least-liked course in Mario Kart, at this, Chuck and Jeff had only shook their heads and continued to select their characters for the level.

"I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known," Gerard began, half laughing the beginning of Green Day's megahit Boulevard of Broken Dreams, remembering when MCR had opened for them in '05 before continuing, "Because everyone else fell the fuck off."

Ray almost snorted at the old Tumblr joke, it seemed like everyone knew the Rainbow Road memes these days.

"And before you four kill each other over the level itself, we should kinda be thinking about how we want this week to end, don't you think?" Pierre asked from the other couch, reaching for the bags of chips David had dove into ten minutes earlier, finding it almost empty, "Dude, what is it with you and food?"

"Uh, I'm hungry? No, but you've got a point. I mean, we're all in bands, that's the reason the concert series works so well to cover up the conference...do we really want to kill the Dandies?"

"Yes." Mikey doesn't even hesitate in answering, kicking his feet up onto the ottoman, pulling in-ear headphones out to rejoin reality.

"No." Bob's usually quiet, so to hear him speak up in this situation has most of the guys interested into the reasoning.

"Think about it...do we really want the fans of said bands we kill getting...out of hand? Mikey, imagine what the MCRmy would do if we ever broke up...now imagine if we died. Do you see my point?"

Reluctantly the bassist nodded, before Seb spoke up, "That still doesn't excuse the fact the Dandies have Amelia. I'm not about to let myself be okay if she gets hurt. It's my fault she's in this mess in the first place."

Mikey huffed, "And now the moment you realize just how badly you fucked up."

"Back to that, are we? The 'I told you' so? I realize what I've done, I don't need it shoved in my face again, thanks."

Immediately the atmosphere in the air changes, geez, these two can sure get into it over a girl.

"Back to how the fuck we solve this problem," Frank interjected after a few seconds, having ceded control of the game over to Gerard.

Being quiet the whole time, it had given Myeong time to think out what she was going to say, so she finally spoke up.

"Well...I have this idea...and I know it's going to sound stupid...but just hear me out."

Gerard, knowing this might be worth listening to, paused the game and everyone looked at her.

"So?"

"Well, if Andy and Bob are wizards...there's memory modifying charms, right? And vampires like Pete and Beckett can erase memories and create false ones, right? What if, assuming Amelia gets back, we just used you guys to wipe everyone's memories of the conference weekend? Granted, those of us that were turned into vampires would still be immortal, but - there's a loophole for that."

'Which is?" Jeff wondered, briefly pondering the idea that just might be crazy enough to work.

"The Sixteen Candles video Fall Out Boy did. We can just modify memories that we found out the video is real and vampires exist. Bam. Game, set, match."

"Huh." Ray smiled, looking at Gerard, "Think it's feasible?"

"Anything is...it's just a matter of hoping the Dandies don't decide to kill us first if this is the plan we're actually going to go with, that's all."

* * *

(Back with Marley, AJ and the rest of the Dandies' girls)

"Oh my god, you're insane. If he catches you with that book, oh, it's going to be so bad." Xena commented as she, Marley, AJ and Rose walked back into the foyer, having gone shopping for new outfits and in general, spending money.

"Oh come on. What's all the fuss about, anyways?" AJ protested, opening the E.L. James megahit to a

random page.

"If you haven't read that before-" Rose started, cut off as AJ threw the book some ten feet away, giggling and shaking her head.

"I can't do this. I can't. It's too...I can't even...god, everything's tight...I'm tense from five pages." she complained.

"Imagine reading the whole book, then having a certain someone catch you with it afterwards..." Marley added with a lopsided grin.

"No, see, that's my point." AJ deadpanned. The other three stared.

"Wait-" Xena said, confused.

"If he's working, I'll just sneak into his study and stretch out on that couch thing and read it...I'm pretty sure I can distract him from anything...if I manage to keep ahold of the book, anyways."

Marley almost gagged, realizing where the blonde's agenda was heading, "You're so evil. You know you're going to pay for that."

AJ shrugged, "Think about it, guys - we already know who the Grey is in this relationship. I'll just prove it, that's all. Rose, Xena, you guys really need to get turned soon - it's so much fun being immortal."

"Where the fuck did that come from? You talk about Fifty Shades, and then-"

"Because being immortal, half of the shit Christian does to Ana won't hurt me. Meaning a certain somebody can do whatever he sees fit as punishment." she almost sighed, as though she was daydreaming.

"We need to burn that book - or her mind," Rose muttered as the four divided, Xena and herself to the kitchen for blood bags, Marley to the back room to watch TV, AJ to William's study.

(AJ's POV)

She didn't even know what made her even want to do what she was doing, but hell, if it managed to distract William like she thought it would, she'd at least try that to see if it worked. Her Mp3 still worked, and she'd been stupid enough to upload the Fifty Shades of Grey classical companion album, and she was currently listening to it as she stretched out on the couch in William's study, the book in her hands, continuing from where she'd left off from reading in their room - the or-so-Christian-called-it 'Vanilla sex' scene.

At the bottom of the first page where things had started to get even remotely picture-y, Adeline bit her lip and put one hand to her head, knotting and pulling at her curls in an effort to calm herself down. It felt like the entire room was a sauna, and she could already tell her breathing pattern was changing.

But glancing at the old cherry desk across the room, light reflecting the natural highlights in William's mahogany brown hair as he sifted through yet another pile of paperwork - geez, you think he'd worked for the government or something, Adeline thought bitterly, it was obvious he was paying her no mind.

She returned to reading, not realizing she'd been moving - flexing her feet against the armrest, curling her toes, borderline writhing where she lay.

Her eyes widened and she couldn't repress the schoolgirl giggle that left her throat, and then another, and then finally, "Oh fucking my!" as she closed the book and threw it, not expecting to have thrown it in the very direction she shouldn't have.

Because the book had skewered a small stack of file folders, and in the process of knocking them over, had more or less landed in the center of William's desk.

OH NO!

He blinks slowly, clearly taken by surprise at the book in front of him, but he doesn't say a word, instead, he picks it up and opens it to the page AJ had been on, conveniently dog-eared. His head lifts and he looks at her, with only that type of devilish grin that makes her realize the girls were right - she's, for all intensive purposes of the word, screwed - figuratively and literally.

"Adeline...your language...have I not stressed that before?" his tone was careful, almost akin to how she'd read Christian's voice in her head as he reprimanded Ana for something.

"Téigh transa ort féin," she muttered with a smile, knowing he probably wouldn't know what it meant.

"Oh? My, Adeline, you never cease to surprise me...first with that book, and now, you're swearing in another language...we really do need to fix that."

And naturally, before she can moved, she's stuck into something she never should have started.

"Don't. We?"

William's tone is darker, just seeing the page she was on puts an idea into his head, and he's not about to let her go without learning a lesson about not distracting him. She squeaks, bits her lip as he straddles her, pinning her to the couch, feet locked against the arm rest, his weight holding her down. She grins, unable to hide her fangs, "Alright, so I got bored and bought the book...not my fault you're busy working all the time!"

He shifted his weight, just enough to cause her to gasp, and then put a hand to the collared blouse she wore, drawing her lips inches from his own.

"See, now you've gone and started something, darling. I wouldn't've ever read that book, but there's a side of me you just might see now because of it," he wagered, and AJ almost whimpered in anticipation, biting her lip again, knowing if he at least knew the book, he'd have a reaction.

"Ah ah ah, no lip biting, Adeline," he chastised, hand lowering to her side, his nails lightly digging into her hip, causing her head to drop against the other arm rest, her back arching beneath him as she panted.

"Oh god, William, baby don't do th-" She yelped suddenly as his hand released its grip, instead grabbing her own and holding her wrists above her head.

"Hm. Shame I don't have anything to tie you up with..."

And then, as if by pure mistake, he undid the tie around his neck with his free hand, "Oh, look here."

Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated with lust as he did two, three quick nice and tight knots around her wrists.

"You kinky bastard."

He couldn't keep a straight face at that comment, and his lips slipped into a half smirk as he leaned down to put his lips next to her ear, lightly nipping at her earlobe, "Oh, my sweet Adeline...I could get worse. Much worse. You don't want to test me, do you?"

She froze, _holy shit he sounds exactly like how I was reading Grey's voice in my head!_


	15. Chapter 15

"J-Just h-how much of that b-book are you familiar wi-with?" she stuttered, bucking her hips in an effort to free herself.

"Enough to know I could make you fall apart right here if I wanted," he replied, something in his tone just making her want to test him.

She giggled, "Try me!"

He actually huffed, "You've read...you know what you can't do." it seemed like a challenge, so she automatically decided to answer it.

She looked right at him and arched her back, biting her lip as she did so, a slight moan leaving her lips.

William only growled, and AJ opened her eyes enough to catch the slight, if barely noticeable twitch of his palm.

Oh god, not the palm thing too! What have I done?

"There's one thing, and oh, how I'd like to bite that lip."

Her breath stopped - Holy - he must've read that line and then- oh god, he's going to be the death of me...but I'm immortal already, so - oh to hell with it.

"Sure you would, Sir," she replied, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, right before she rolled her eyes.

That did it. Unable to stop the smile her face had broken into, she whimpered as William leaned down and took her lips roughly with his own, easily gaining the upper hand thanks to her hands being occupied.

After a few seconds he pulled away, holding her chin between his thumb and index finger, hazel eyes staring determinedly into her own.

She gulped, knowing what his next line would be if in fact he really was going along with the Fifty Shades train of thought.

"Roll your eyes at me again and I'll put you over my knee, do you understand?"

She could feel her lip trembling as she tried to keep from laughing, but by that point, it was useless.

"Alright, alright...you good now? I can't feel my hands...and I really really really want a cold shower after that...and damn, for saying you've never read the book - three lines and the palm thing? I don't believe you."

William untied her wrists, shrugging, "Alright, so I lied. I looked enough to know the basics, haven't read the whole thing. And about that shower, although that sounds abso-" He looked towards his desk, the stacks of now messed up file folders and papers around it. Looking back at her, he sighed.

"Oh, fuck the paperwork."

* * *

After they had dragged her back to the mansion, they threw Amelia down in the basement and to her dismay, she heard the lock click, meaning that she was trapped down there. She took a moment to look at her dismal surroundings. The basement was unfinished and was mostly concrete walls. There was a small window at the end of the room, but it was too small for Amelia to climb through. She sat against one of the walls and huffed. How was she going to get out of this one? She racked her brain, trying to think of something.

While she was thinking, she was reminded of a few days ago, when she had been practicing her Waterbending with Chuck. He had explained that to those who could control water, the water had a certain "pull" that you could feel. In order to illustrate his point, he had blindfolded her and had had her find the hotel's pool from five floors up, using only her Waterbending instinct. After a while, she realized that she too could feel this "pull" coming from the water. When she had asked Chuck why that happened, he likened it to a survival instinct.

"If you're ever in a situation where you don't have direct access to water, use this technique. It could possibly save your life," he had said.

Amelia smiled and stood up. She closed her eyes and concentrated, focused mostly on her breathing. After taking a few deep breaths, to her delight, she was able to feel a pull coming from the room. It was above her head and when she looked up, she saw the water pipes running overhead.

She first focused on moving the water that she could feel sitting in the pipes. She moved it back and forth, just trying to get a feel for manipulating that she couldn't actually see. After a few minutes, she felt the water responding to her movements. She then traced the path of the water. It flowed from an underground pump into the pipes, which then ran across the ceiling and into a complicated cluster of pipes, which Amelia assumed went to different areas of the house.

The first thing that she did was force as much water as she possibly could out of the underground pump. She filled the pipes to capacity. Then, to prevent the water from escaping back down into the pump, she froze the pipe right at the giant knot of pipes on both sides. There was too much water in the pipes, which led to an increase in pressure. Slowly, the pipes began to shudder and shake and Amelia knew that it was only a matter of minutes before she could make her escape.

'I hope this works,' she thought to herself.

* * *

The next morning, AJ woke up and turned over, not at all surprised to find William wasn't beside her. Getting and stretching, she winced, something felt out of place. Walking into the bathroom that was connected to their room, she went to start a shower.

Undressing and looking at herself in the mirror, she frowned at the more-than-noticeable bite marks/bruises along her neckline, then gasped as her gaze travelled down her body.

"Fuck...I swear, that's the last time I ever read that book in front of him, ow, everything hurts..."

Stepping into the shower, she figured she'd at least get it started.

When she turned the faucet, no water came out.

"Great...what the hell? This house isn't THAT old...come on, maybe if I just-" she went to try starting the shower like at most of her friend's houses, first turning on the faucet for the bath and then pulling the little switch, but again, no water came out.

"Okay, what the hell is going on? I just want a nice hot shower..." she grumbled, stepping out to pull her clothes back on, only to find they weren't there. She almost laughed, thinking perhaps the building was old enough to be haunted, but then remembered certain vampires could make themselves invisible.

Pulling the towel hastily off the rack and wrapping up in it, she scowled.

"Adam, you sicko...where the fuck are my clothes?! AND MARLEY IF YOU'RE IN ON THIS I SWEAR TO GOD!" she yelled, slowly getting more pissed by the moment.

_I'm not leaving this room. William's in his office down the hall, and I'm not walking there in this just so the guys can have a little fun...whoever did that's gonna pay...OH! I could just go get something else on..._

Walking back into the bedroom, she headed for her closet, and only grew more pissed off as she realized someone had locked it.

"Oh. Fucking. My. Someone is going to be murdered."

"If Marley gets ahold of that book, don't be surprised if she...taunts you," William brought up as he, Adam, Brendon and Ryan were in his office, talking.

"And Rose and Xena? They didn't seem so keen to mention it...although one does like their scarves..." Ryan added with a crooked grin.

"Well, playing them to their advantages...you do know they're going to want to be turned soon enough. Although I don't think it's best that you com- Oh, Adeline, dear, come in," William paused, hearing footsteps just outside his door.

All of the boys turned to share a look the moment AJ walked into the room with nothing but a towel around her.

Before anyone could say anything, William was on the other side of the desk, pulling off his suit jacket, placing it over her shoulders and helping her get her arms into the sleeves.

He couldn't hide the smile that had appeared on his face as he tilted his head, slightly confused.

"You mind explaining?"

She bit her lip and stared at the floor, mumbling just soft enough that even William wasn't sure what she had said.

"Not with the others here..."

He sighed, kissing her forehead.

"Alright...Ryan, Brendon, Adam - you're dismissed."

The three nodded, and turned around to leave. Brendon and Ryan were already out in the hall, but the minute Adam turned toward the door, he found it had slammed shut in his face with a bang. Turning back around, the vampire palled, seeing AJ standing there, wearing William's jacket with his hands on her shoulders, a deliberate 'we're-not-done-yet' smile on her face.

I knew having Marley do that was a bad idea...

She giggled, and pursed her lips.

"Why?" she asked simply, and Adam almost flinched, her tone was gentle, but he knew she was going to scold him for something, it just was that..almost the same tone William would have had if he'd been disturbed.

"W-why wh-what?"

She lifted a hand to run it through her curls, making a 'tsk, tsk' noise as she did so.

"You know. My clothes. The water. My closet." Each sentence was punctuated with another glare.

"Alright...the closet was me, Marley wanted to test out her other ability - her invisibility...she took your clothes, they're on our dresser...I just locked your closet to make it a little more fun. But as to why the water's not working? I have no idea!" he explained.+

"Now, what's all this about? Invisibility? Fun? Adam, you're older, I'd expect you to know better...As for Marley, Adeline can deal with her," William chastised.

"All I wanted to do was take a shower - the water wouldn't start, and then my clothes went missing and my closet's locked...hence why I'm in this..." AJ said sheepishly, biting her lip and burying her face into the jacket, the familiarity of William's scent wrapping around her.

"Well, let's go get your closet unlocked, love...as for the water, this mansion is rather old...perhaps it's faulty piping?"

She gave a sarcastic laugh.

"They weren't leaking...I mean, there was no water at all! Like they were jam- Oh. No."

Both Adam and William turned to look at her, catching hazel eyes wide with realization.

"Amelia."

At that moment, everyone in the office heard a series of giant booms come from the bowels of the house. They all ran out of the office and down the stairs to the main hallway. When they did, they saw the basement door wide open and there was at least six inches of water on the floor and it was steadily increasing. The young Waterbender was nowhere to be found.

"Shit, she must have busted the pipes! That's why the shower wasn't working," AJ said.

"We'll worry about the plumbing later. Let's find your friend first," William said as the rest of his men entered the hall. Before they could split up and look for Amelia, several icicles came flying at them, nearly impaling them. Amelia stepped out from behind a column and readied the water.

"Come on guys, let's get her!" AJ yelled as she ran forward. She didn't get very far before Amelia formed the water into a giant wave and froze it, completely encasing AJ in ice.

As the rest of William's men tried to subdue her, Amelia used all of the things that Chuck had taught her. She froze the water into a giant column and sliced off razor thin slices of water, sending them flying at whoever tried to approach her. She fought with everything she had. Finally, when she had managed to take down most of William's men, she used the water to throw open the front door to the mansion. In all of her haste, she had forgotten to account for one thing. One of William's men was a copycat, and therefore had an unlimited supply of abilities to use in combat. It had never occurred to Amelia that one of those abilities might be manipulation of electricity.

She turned briefly and saw him smile. The Australian vampire summoned a small amount of electricity and thrust his hands under the water. The electricity travelled quickly towards Amelia and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Even if she had managed to bend the water away from her, she was still completely soaked, so it wouldn't have made a difference. She felt a burning pain all over her body as her muscles spasmed. Just as she was finally rendered unconscious, she saw someone walking towards her. After that, there was nothing. When Amelia opened her eyes again, it seemed like she was in another part of the mansion. This wasn't like the basement though, this room was definitely furnished and livable, it most likely was an extra parlor or office that had been converted into a bedroom. She winced slightly as she flipped over and sat up from the chair was had been placed in, running a hand along her arms, remembering why she probably was in that room. Well, I almost made it. Her hand turned towards the door at the sound of hushed voices, but she involuntarily felt her lips form a snarl as she recognized AJ's voice.

"Look, I'm not going to set her free or anything, William, you know I wouldn't do that. I just want to talk to her...maybe get a snack while I'm at it. I won't kill her, I promise. Please."

Amelia gawked at the door, hearing her old friend talk about her as though she was nothing other than a walking refrigerator. She shook her head at the thought.

"Fine. I'll be in my office. And I'll warn you again - after her little display yesterday, I don't want you starting something that might cause her to show off again, do I make myself clear?"

Amelia almost allowed the ghost of a smile to flit across her lips at AJ's clearly annoyed huff. That, at least had been her same reaction after Amelia had warned her not to go chasing boys or just not to do something stupid.

"Yes William." And with that, Amelia was up, just as the doorknob began to turn.

 


	16. Chapter 16

AJ hadn't been lying when she said she had wanted to talk to Amelia - well, not exactly talk, anyways. She knew she already had decent mental abilities, partly due to William having been the one to turn her, but still she wanted to put them to the test.

She walked in the spare bedroom, not surprised to find Amelia already striking a defense stance, eyes wary.

"Oh relax. I'm not going to do anything, that'd hardly be fair after what you got put through earlier."

Amelia only gave her a look.

"Come on, I'm not as bad as the rest of them! You have to admit that!"

"You're getting there. Your talking is already changing, and the way your dressing, the way you obey him? It's sick."

"It's sick, me being respecting to my elders?" AJ challenged, hands playing with the ribboned bows on the ruffles of the dress she wore, "Wow, you've got a lot to learn. I don't suppose you've gone and hooked up with that mutt yet, eh?"

It took Amelia a second to realize she'd meant Sebastien.

"Wow. That's...I'll be damned, you are one of them."

AJ had walked forward into the room now, the shorter girl approaching Amelia in four strides, smiling enough to reveal her fangs.

"You have no idea how good your blood smells...you're scared of me...I can smell it." AJ stated, cocking her head to the side as her smile grew, reaching up to set a hand on Amelia's face. This in turn only caused the older girl to back up against the wall, reaching for the skein at her side.

"Oh come now, it's not going to hurt. One prick, and then the endorphins will take over...or you know what," she started, smile turning to a smirk, "Here."

At this, AJ's hand grabbed Amelia's chin, forcing their gazes to meet. Amelia tried to look away, but she found that she couldn't.

Damn it. Guess she really is a Dandie...here we go with the mind stuff...

She closed her eyes for a second, being that was the only thing she could do, but then, when she opened then, it appeared that Seb was in the room with them.

"Amelia? What am I doing here? One minute I'm talking to the guys, and the next I'm he-" His word cut off with a gurgle as Amelia saw the knife sticking out of the front side of his chest, AJ's smile from behind causing her to see red.

Seb stumbled forward and collapsed to his knees, Amelia fell with him and cradled him, tears already falling.

He reached up a hand to wipe her tears away, managing a weak smile, "It's my f-fault you're in th-this mess in th-the first pl-place."

"Damn straight." AJ said, smiling ever more maniacal as she held a small six shot to his head, Amelia too shocked to move.

"You're going to kiss him, right? Hate for this bullet to go to waste without a good send off..." she taunted, tapping her foot.

Amelia lifted her head, wrenched her gaze from his blue eyes. That was when everything shattered. It had been an illusion, something AJ must have planned to get under her skin.

"You're going to pay for that, Adeline." Amelia couldn't even recognize her own voice as she readied the water at her side, glaring.

AJ giggled.

"Oh? Oh, someone's mad...and by the way-" the young vampire lifted a hand and went for the other girl's throat, but Amelia blocked it with water, "Only William's allowed to say my full name. I wouldn't suggest you get me mad...I don't have the best self control yet."

Amelia smiled, remembering the old Doctor Who marathons and how they used to imitate Guy Ripley.

"Well then," Amelia started, nodding as if to tell AJ to make a move, "Adeline Jeanette, let's see how much control you really have."

Amelia blinked at the grin AJ had answered with, it almost seemed like she was her old self again, until the younger girl took a running start at her, hands raised.

"Not so fast."

Hit after hit that came her way, Amelia deflected, the water forming a barrier. They parried this way and that, AJ telekinetically locking the door as they went to make sure no one could interfere.

"You know, you're really bad at trying to actually hit me. My turn."

With that, Amelia struck out, the water wrapping around AJ's wrists and lower arms, freezing, causing her to drop her arms to her side, the weight of the ice rendering her defenseless.

"Oh, so I can't use my arms. Big deal. I can still do this."

Amelia ducked seconds before the light fixture above them came flying toward her, AJ having loosened it with telekinesis.

"Your mind isn't going to stop me. In fact, I'll show you how much overconfidence you have in your abilities in the first place. I didn't want to do this, but after what you did to me, with making me see Seb like that, Beckett deserves to see you just the same."

"SAME?!" AJ shrieked, trying to lift her arms, anything to get away. It was useless.

"Same."

Amelia unfroze the ice, and as soon as it turned to water, she turned it into two separate streams, leading them to the glasses sitting on the nightstand just behind AJ, knowing she would freeze them again to twin icicles when the moment was right.

"Really? What are you going to do, offer me a drink? It's not like you have time to poison that," AJ sneered, not realizing Amelia had a plan.

As AJ went to walk towards her, Amelia put on hand out in front of her and closed it into a fist, visualizing the pathway of blood throughout AJ's body.

She didn't want to use bloodbending, but it the end it was the only way AJ would learn that Amelia wasn't as weak as she thought she was.

Amelia stepped forward, forcing AJ to step back, her body now out of her control.

"Wh-what is th-this? I can't...I can't move..." the blonde was frantic, confused.

"Bloodbending. You should remember blood is mostly water, and from the looks of it, just another way to control you against your will." Amelia explained.

"You bitch! That's not fair! I didn't know you could-"

Another step. And another. C'mon, just a little bit closer, then I can freeze it and give the boys a show...

"There's a lot you don't know about me now...since the group's falling apart, things have changed. You of all people should have realized that, as you were the one to start it."

"Start it? START IT? I didn't do anything! Those tickets were what caused this whole thing! This city! We should have just stayed in-"

And while she was talking,. Amelia kept the control, forcing the blonde back toward the glasses, and finally, when she was within range, Amelia froze the water as she sent it towards the other girl, and it formed sharp icicles.

The agonized scream that left the female Dandie's lips told Amelia the plan had worked, and she winced to see the icicles sticking out of the front of her chest, just below her collarbone, blood already beginning to stain the fabric of the dress she wore.

AJ coughed, managing a defeated smile.

"Oh alright. You made your point. My fault for allowing you to show off...William's going to have field day once he finds out I provoked you..."

But Amelia wasn't even listening, she'd ran to the door and unlocked it, and then made a run for it.

The hallway was surprisingly quiet, and she was shocked to see the front door just down the hall. What shocked her more was that no-one even seemed to realize what was going on. Perhaps there was a meeting and everyone was oblivious?

Without a second thought however, she went for it, wrenching open the door when she got to it, taking three jumps down the porch and continued off, intending to get as far away as she could, enough to shake anyone that might have followed her, and then she'd double back to the base where Fall Out Boy, My Chem and Simple Plan would be.

"Is it just me or does it just seem too quiet today?" Brendon asked Carden as the two headed back from William's office, both intending to hit the kitchen for wine glasses, then to the living room for the All Star game.

"Forget it being quiet, it's like the energy's changed." Jon said, opening one of the cabinets, shifting through tea boxes, "The girls won't shut up about this stuff - Marley think chai's the best thing in the world."

"And that's when you know Adeline's been talking to her too much," Sisky added, having apparently just appeared on the countertop next to the sink, setting on the edge, balancing his feet against the stove.

"Would you stop doing that? You're not five...I get you're having fun with the invisibility thing and all, but still-" Carden complained before pausing.

"Speaking of Adeline, where is she? She's normally bouncing around with that stereo blasting, or she's filming covers with Rose and Xena in the parlor..." he wondered.

"William told me she was talking to the waterbender." Sisky said.

"But if the energy's changed...Jon, didn't you say it always felt sort of nervous and apprehensive with the waterbender here?" The bassist nodded.

"And now that that feeling's not here...where's the girl?" Brendon asked, scanning the room, and then ducking his head into the hall.

"Damn it. Here we go again."

Rose and Xena had wanted to go check on AJ, knowing she was talking to Amelia. And with the fun the two had seen yesterday, they almost worried for AJ's safety if she was alone with the waterbender.

"Hey AJ, want to do some Panic covers? Ryan let me borrow his guitar!" Xena called as they walked towards the room Amelia was being kept in. When no response came, Rose tried.

"Come on! We can do I Write Sins! Or...oh, hell, if you want, we can do the cup song. I know you know all the words."

Again, no response.

"Think they're okay?"

"AJ probably bit Amelia, made her pass out and then she fell asleep."

"I think we should check, just in case!" Rose ran for the door, tugging at the handle, surprised to find it locked.

"What the hell? It's locked."

"Locked?"

"No shit Sherlock, do you see it opening for me?"

"Well, can't you-"

"Get one of the boys...it needs mental powers to unlock in from the inside." Rose nodded, running off to go grab William.

* * *

From the moment William had dismissed the others, he knew something was wrong, the air just seemed- a little less tense, although he couldn't shake the fact he was becoming increasingly worried about something, even though he couldn't figure out what exactly that was.

Hearing a knock on the door, he immediately called whomever it was in.

"William...the door to Amelia's room is locked, we're worried about AJ...can you come unlock it?"

Rose asked timidly, shifting on her feet.

'We're worried about AJ' - That sent William practically taking off as soon as the words left Rose's mouth, that had to be why he felt so out of place. As soon as he reached the room where the waterbender had been kept, he smelled blood, and enough of it to immediately know who it belonged to.

"Girls, I don't want you around in case the girl is defensive. Go fetch Michael and Brendon, please." he said, managing to unlock the door, knowing they wouldn't know he'd lied.

As the two hurried back down the hall, William slipped into the room, shocked and sickened to see only Adeline was in the room. She lay on the floor, her new dress soaked with blood from her shoulders, where two gaping puncture wounds were present just below her collarbone.

"Adeline...Adeline! Love, please...if you can hear me-" William pleaded as he knelt next to her, her eyelids fluttering open to reveal reddened puffy hazel eyes.

"I-It h-hurts..." she whimpered, her breathing shallow. William nodded, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"We're going to get you healed, darling. Who did this to you, hm? I promise, they're going to die. My face will be the last thing they ever see."

Adeline tried to smile at how dangerous his tone had become, it was clear he wanted revenge.

"A-Ame-" she tried, before a scream from the doorway interrupted her.

William turned to see Rose burying her head in Brendon's shoulder, muffling shocked cries.

"Brendon!" William almost growled, and at that, Brendon told Rose to go find Xena and stay in their room until he came and got them.

Seconds later Chislett had followed in, wanting to know why everyone was freaking out.

"What's all wro- Oh. Oh."

"She needs blood, the waterbender obviously caught her by surprise, it doesn't look like any bones are broken, but these twin punctures, they go deep, it's as if they're straight through her." William explained, shrugging off his jacket to bit his wrist, holding his bleeding arm to the girl's mouth, to which Adeline immediately tried to bite him, knowing she needed blood.

"We can't leave her here...we should pick her up, get her to your room..." Brendon suggested.

William nodded, "I don't want her hurt more. On three, we all move, and we're taking her to our bedroom. Tell Ryan he's to bring blood bags. And tell Jon and Marley they'll be needed, as Rose is upset, and everyone else must feel uneasy."

"And the girl?" Chislett asked, noticing the waterbender was nowhere to be found. William looked down at Adeline, whose eyes had closed, however her teeth were still tightly dug into his wrist, "Oh don't worry. I'll deal with her personally."

 


	17. Chapter 17

The minute Amelia walked back into the base (somehow having gotten the knock right) she received surprised gasps from everyone in the room, but no-one moves. Well, until- "YOU'RE BACK!" Sebastien is off the couch in two seconds, having tossed the Xbox controller to the side.

Before Amelia can properly react, he's got her in a tight hug, but pulls back seconds later to inspect her, almost expecting to see something wrong. The look in his eyes only worries her, it's as though a part of him had gone missing and has suddenly returned.

She smiles, already sensing what might happen.

"Seb, I'm fine. They didn't hurt me. Well, physically," she started, quickly adding, "And nobody touched me, either." at the dark, almost possessive glare his blue eyes had made. "The only thing that happened was AJ got to me a little bit...more than a little bit." She admitted, biting her lip.

"What'd the blonde bitch do now?" Pete called from his spot beside the beanbag Myeong was sprawled into. How hadn't Amelia noticed how close they seemed until now?

"She kinda...actually, Seb, I'd rather just talk to you about it, since it mostly-" she started, but having already had that feeling, she had braced for this moment - his hands suddenly cupped her face, and when he leaned down and put his lips to hers, she'd wanted no other feeling in the world.

_How dare AJ taunt me with missing this..._

By the time he pulled back, she could feel herself blushing scarlet. And could sense everyone else staring.

"Bon, allons parler maintenant l, ma chère. Si tu veux ce qui est." (Well, we can go talk somewhere, just us, dear, if you want, that is,) he spoke, looking at her, and for a moment she was confused, although utterly captivated by the fact he knew another language, and a romance language at that.

She looked around, mostly for somebody else in Simple Plan to gauge a reaction for what he'd said. The only thing she could see were smiles, but that still didn't tell her anything.

"I don't...I'm not the one that knows - AJ knows more of it then I d-"she stumbled over her words, still shocked from his kiss to think straight.

"Good, let's go talk then, dear. If you want, that is," he murmured the translation into her hair, one hand maneuvering to rest on the small of her back, the other reaching up to run through his hair.

She nodded, and almost smiled as they headed to a back room, if only to discuss what had occurred at the mansion.

"Holy. Shit." Myeong gaped, staring transfixed at the spot where Amelia and Seb had stood moments before, lips locked.

"Has- how long has he wanted to do that for?" Andy asked.

David snorted from the couch, which only made him laugh harder due to the sound he'd made. The rest of the SP guys just wondered why the hell he'd just did that.

"Have you guys ever noticed that we said this conference week wasn't going to screw up our lives? The irony of it's too high...Pete, you've bit your girl, Patrick, Amelia seems more collected than you at times, Seb is probably close to playing baseball tonight, even though we all know hockey's better but that's not my point, and Mikey - hey, where'd he go?"

"What's ironic about that? It's about time something good happened during this week," Joe commented.

"As to where my brother went," Gerard began, finally setting his phone down, having grown tired of scrolling through twitter, "He took off for the movies, insisted he see the latest zombie flick."

"Netflix. Is. Better." Myeong shot back, gawking at the slight idiocy the younger Way was displaying bygoingout to the movies instead of staying home, "I mean, he could just watch the classics on Netflix, you know they have Dawn of The Dead, right? The 1978 original, not that shitty 2004 remake. That's his favorite if I remember."

"Yeah, that is, but- hey, how'd you kn-"

"YouTube videos, duh," Frank says before Myeong can respond, in turn causing Pete to laugh at his girlfriend, being someone had beaten her to the punch line.

"Don't you have things to be lighting on fire?" she throws back calmly, gaze drifting to the 4'9 guitarist who only smiles and proceeds to juggle a small ball of fire between his palms, "Not exactly, kinda hard when there's no-one here to want to kill. Now if Beckett and his crew showed, then we might have some fun."

Chuck sat up with a half smile, summoning a small stream of water and deliberately putting out the fire dancing between the other man's hands. The black haired vampire almost giggled.

"You wanna go? I'm up for sparring, and we're opposite elements, so it's good practice."

Chuck nodded, "You're on. Hey Patrick, guys, mind if we take the left side of the training room? Pierre, David, since you guys are opposites, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get some sparring in." he pointed out, to which the other two nodded and stood.

Jeff sighed, "I suppose I'll be referee, heaven knows you guys like to argue about who hit somebody where..."

"I'll come too, everybody knows Frank's a prankster." Ray stated, getting up.

And with that, Frank, Ray and the rest of Simple Plan headed into the big training room down the hall.

Myeong chuckled at how quickly the room had mostly cleared, but smiled at Pete anyways, "And come on, we need to work on my stamina not that you turned me."

Pete gave a crooked grin, "Sweetie, not so-"

"Now." and he could only oblige to her order, picking her up and carrying her to his room.

With most of the main room empty, it left Gerard once again playing on his phone while Bob sat seemingly transfixed, twirling his wand between his fingers like another drumstick.

If left Andy and Joe to both look at the TV, then the stack of DVDs below it.

"Another Tim Burton movie?" Andy wondered, reaching for the stack. Joe only nodded, "Not like there's much else."

* * *

Meanwhile, Amelia and Seb had gone to one of the back rooms to talk, and she actually was surprised she wasn't giggling like crazy, being she never thought he'd actually kiss her.

"So...what'd AJ make you see? You still seem like you're pretty shaken up over it." He asked, one arm hanging over the armrest of the couch.

She looked around, trying to not look at him before she said, "You."

"Uh-" He's taken back, in part by how quietly she's said this. She takes a breath before continuing.

"She keep torturing me with these images...like, of you dying...I'm not talking just getting shot or something, I'm talking she shooting you and you dying in my arms, and really bad mentally-impairing stuff like that. I don't ever want to see that stuff again, and I don't ever want to feel that way again...I can't even...It hurts even thinking about it," she admitted.

Noticing her shudder at just recalling the things she'd seen, he pulled her onto his lap, rocking her slowly.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not a little kid. And we're alone...and you know how everybody else has been treating moments like this," she started, not surprising to find an answering smile.

"You don't see me objecting, do you?" he laughed, but seconds later, Amelia had turned to straddle him, glancing back towards the door.

She'd almost thought about it, but then something in the back of her mind had screamed an objection - she finally was able to talk to him, and he was the only person she really wanted to explain everything to.

The truth was - she didn't even want to be in all this. She was scared, for everything that had happened, everybody already involved, knowing things weren't exactly going to get better, and before she knew it, she was crying all over again.

Seb sat up and put his arms around her.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Because, Seb, I'm scared, okay? I'm really freaking scared! I mean, a week ago, I didn't know that any of this existed and now, I'm in the middle of a huge conflict. One of my best friends is fighting for the other side and I have no idea if I'll ever get her back! I just want to go home. I want to go home and see my family and just forget that any of this happened!" she wailed, crying even more.

Seb was at a loss for words. He didn't know what he could say that would comfort her. After a while, she stopped crying, but she insisted that she just wanted to go back to the hotel. Seb offered to walk her back, but she shook her head.

"I think I'll get Bob to Apparate with me back to the hotel. I just want to get there as quickly as possible," she said, still sounding sad.

Seb nodded as the two walked out of the back room. Amelia walked over to Bob and explained what she had said to Seb and he nodded. She grabbed onto his arm and with a small 'pop', they disappeared. Seb walked over to Jeff and Ray, who were still watching the others fight, and sat down. He thought for a long time.

After dropping her off at the hotel and making sure that she was okay, Bob Apparated back. Everyone was sitting around, talking. He stayed quiet and ruminated over what Amelia had told him. Seb was currently babbling on about Amelia. Sickened by what he was saying, Bob stood up and said, "Dammit, Seb, shut up!"

Bob's outburst surprised everyone, including Seb, who stopped talking.

"Jeeze, all of this lovesick stuff is making me sick! Can't you see what's happening?" Bob asked.

"What do you mean?" Seb asked, standing up as well.

"Did Amelia tell you how she really felt tonight? About everything that's happened?"

"Well yeah, she said that she was scared and - "

"Exactly!" Bob exclaimed, cutting Seb off. "She's scared, Seb! They probably all are, though they might not say anything."

"So? What does that have to do with anything?" Seb asked.

Bob threw his hands up with an exasperated sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. He tried to stay as calm as he could.

"Okay, for one second, can we just stop thinking about us and think about the girls? Put ourselves in their shoes. Imagine it: you're an 18 year old girl, who goes to a big city to enjoy spring break. Suddenly, we swoop out of nowhere and take them away to this supernatural world that none of them knew existed! We're taking them away from everything: their families, their dreams, even each other. Jesus, guys, they're only kids! They've got their whole lives ahead of them!"

"Technically, they're adults in the eyes of the law. They can do what they want, with whoev-" David piped up, stopping as Bob glared at him and if looks could kill, he would have been dead.

"That's not the point! What if something happened to these girls?! What if they died? Would you be able to live with yourselves, knowing that you had a part in their deaths, in ripping their families apart?"

"But that's not going to happen. I swore that I would keep Amelia safe, and I intend to keep that promise!" Seb declared.

"Keep her safe?! KEEP HER SAFE?!" Bob yelled "You really think that letting her get kidnapped by William and his men and then playing with her emotions like you did is keeping her safe?!"

"What do you mean, playing with her emotions? That was how I genuinely felt!" Seb replied, baring his teeth in a snarl.

"Please, that wasn't genuine. That was your hormones, which are running high because the full moon is in three days!" Bob sneered.

Bob was toeing a dangerous line, and he knew it. With the full moon being so close, he knew that Sebastien would be extremely volatile, but he didn't care.

Everyone was completely shocked at this sudden turn in Bob's attitude.

"Are you really just going to let him say this?" Chuck asked Gerard, incredulous that Bob would say something like that.

Gerard shrugged. "It needs to be said."

"You know what, come to think of it, Seb, you're actually the one to blame for all of this! If you had just left Amelia and AJ alone like we originally told you, we could have just gotten through this conference week and gone back to our regular lives."

"Oh, so now it's my fault?! Well, sorry for giving a damn for her safety!"

Bob raised his hand in a dismissive gesture.

"You know what, Seb? Since you're too bullheaded to realize the danger you're putting her in, do whatever you want. I don't care. Just know that when these girls inevitably die, I won't be the one who will have to wash the blood off my hands."

That was it. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. With a fierce growl, Sebastien lunged towards Bob. When he was an arm's length away from clawing the wizard, who had raised his wand in self-defense, he was stopped by Mikey, who had come seemingly out of nowhere. Mikey held onto his shoulders, though Sebastien struggled.

"That's enough, Seb. Let it go!" Mikey said as he shoved Sebastien backwards.

Bob simply Apparated away, leaving the whole room stunned into silence at the exchange that had taken place over the last few minutes.

* * *

As soon as William and the others got AJ into their room, Brendon and Michael looked at each other, then at the other two as William adjusted pillows behind her and started trying to undo the corset front of her dress to get a better look at the wounds.

"Guess we really didn't think that through. The basement episode was a dead giveaway, but this?"

Michael shrugged, "I'll willing to bet Adeline went and provoked her, it's possible she's just getting what she was asking for."

Both turned at the sound of Adeline coughing, but she smiled.

"He's right...I kinda had it coming...I made her see stuff...freaked her out pretty damn good."

William sighed, "I told you not to set her off, darling, when will you ever listen?"

She giggled, wincing as the last of the lacing came undone and she grabbed for one of the blankets.

"Baby...we're not-"

"I need to get a better look at your shoulders...see how bad those spots really are. The boys know better than to stare."

She looked at him, then the other two, nodding, sitting up with a light gasp.

In one fluid movement, William had pulled the dress off her shoulders, revealing the puncture wounds, dried blood already crusted around the edges, the skin ashy and spotted with veins around it.

"Alright, so that's not so bad...just went completely through and through, nothing but muscle and skin. That's nothing a decent supply of blood won't fix. Michael, Brendon - you two can go see to the others, I'd advise getting them all in one room, then get Jon and Marley to work things out."

"Will do. I'll send Ryan in as well, he knows what kind she normally drinks," Brendon added as the two left the room, still worried slightly as they still didn't know where the waterbender had gone.

 


	18. Chapter 18

After Bob Apparated away from everyone else, he went to a seedier part of town in order to blow off some steam. Being raised in Chicago, he was no stranger to the poverty and grime that coated the city. His wizard heritage also helped ensure that people left him alone. He kept his wand in his hand just in case and took off walking. As he passed a popular dance club, a spark of electricity travelled from one of the street lamps and would have hit him had he not used a Shield Charm.

Bob looked over his shoulder and with a sigh saw Gabe Saporta and his band of Cobras.

"Well well well, what do we have here? Out for a leisurely stroll, are we, Robert?" asked Gabe with a grin that revealed his fangs.

"Quite frankly, that's none of your business,  _Gabriel,"_  Bob replied, smirking to himself when a grimace crossed the normally composed vampire's face. He hated being called by his full name.

"So, wizard, where are your stupid friends?" asked a vampire to Gabe's right.

"That's none of your business, Ryland. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to continue on my walk and you are going to let me pass. If you don't, it won't end well for you," Bob said as he prepared to walk past the Cobras.

"Oh come on, doll, what's the hurry?" Victoria asked as she lightly touched Bob's arm.

He jerked his arm out of her grasp and continued walking. He barely had time to throw up a Shield Charm as another bolt of electricity came flying at his head. With another sigh, he resigned himself to stay and fight.

The Cobras weren't much of a threat, with the exception of Gabe. All of them together were just a nuisance. Tonight, though, there was something different about them. It's like they were at the top of their game. No matter how many spells Bob threw at them, it didn't seem to be doing much of anything. The minute he knocked one of them down, another came rushing at him. Knowing it was impossible for him to try and beat the Cobras by himself, he concentrated on a memory, a single memory. It was the memory of the only woman he had ever truly loved. He imagined her smile, her laugh, everything he could possibly remember about her. With all of that in his mind, he was able to cast a Patronus Charm. The Patronus took the form of a ferocious mountain lion. It startled the Cobras, who backed off at the sight of it.

"Get help," was what Bob said as he sent it away with a flick of his wand. He only hoped his friends could get the message soon enough.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the hideout, things had calmed down. Mikey managed to beat Sebastien into submission before he could go after anyone else. It was quiet. After Bob's outburst, no one seemed to know what to say. Thankfully, before anyone could say anything, a huge translucent mountain lion burst through the door with a feral scream!

David immediately recoiled at the sight of the beast.

"Jesus, what the hell is that?!" he screamed when no one else seemed to react.

Mikey was looking at it strangely, as were the other members of My Chemical Romance.

"It's a Patronus," Mikey said, staring.

"Not just any Patronus. That's Bob's Patronus. That can only mean..." Ray started

"He's in trouble. We have to go," Gerard finished as he and the others ran for the door.

"You guys stay here!" Mikey yelled once he saw Sebastien and the others stand up.

The four of them raced into the night, the silvery mountain lion racing ahead of them.

* * *

Bob was standing on his last leg. The Cobras had managed to back him into a corner. Even with his strongest spells, he couldn't do much. Just as it all seemed hopeless, a car came flying down the street and crashed into two of Gabe's men. With a sigh of relief, Bob saw that his friends had arrived.

"Hey Bob, looks like you could use some help!" Frank shouted as he summoned a stream of fire

"Yeah, I've got these pesky snakes that I can't seem to get rid of," Bob replied as Mikey phased and took out two of Gabe's men in one shot.

Gerard went hand to hand with Gabe, giving Bob time to recuperate. As he watched his friends fight, he thought of a surefire way to get rid of the Cobras once and for all.

"Hey Frank, is it just me or is it getting a little hot in here?" he called.

Frank caught Bob's eye and noticed the smirk on the wizard's face. He knew exactly what was coming next.

Bob used an ancient incantation that summoned a giant fire beast known as a Fiendfyre. Though Fiendfyres were difficult to control, given Frank's affinity for fire, it was easier to control. Bob set the beast on the Cobras. Frank controlled the intensity of the flames in order to make sure that the only thing it burned was Cobra Starship.

The vampires had no clue what hit them. The fire destroyed them immediately. Once their bodies had been reduced to nothing but ash, Bob stopped casting the spell. He scattered their ashes and made sure that there were no Ashwinders lingering around.

"Nicely done, Bob. That's one less thing we have to worry about," Gerard said as they walked back to the hideout.

* * *

"MARLEY!" AJ had been sleeping, well, until the dream had woken her. It seemed that even though she was immortal (and those vampires could sleep, therefore dream) certain nightmares just wouldn't go away.

And seeing as AJ's injury was still somewhat healing (she'd drank six blood bags and William was insisting on another four the next day), he had figured it best for her to share a room with the other girls so they could monitor her.

Prior to AJ waking, Marley and the others had been talking, mainly about how Spencer had had a vision shortly before he went to bed. He didn't think anything of it, figuring there was time to prevent it from happening. Mentioning only death, the hunters and the Cobras, he shrugged it off and had headed to bed.

"Isn't that a little odd? Y'know for him to not tell William?" Rose stated as Marley went to comfort AJ.

"AJ, relax, it's just another nightmare - you're fine. Rose and Xena are here, too. Just go back to sleep." Marley soothed, turning to look at the other two, who shrugged, "Maybe it's nothing to worry about. Like Deja vu, but not really...I can't explain what I'm trying to say, I'm tired. Just let it go."

"N-No...N-No...I'm n-not sl-sleeping...it was b-bad this time!" she protested, sitting up and practically throwing herself into the other girl's arms, sobbing.

 _'Go get William, and Jon'_  Marley mouthed to Rose, who got up and walked toward the door.

"Sssshhh, AJ calm down...come on, you're getting yourself all worked up!" Xena stated, though Marley had already put a hand on AJ's forehead, testing her emotional barrier.

All Marley could sense was anticipation and fear, along with an underlying pang of regret.

She nodded in response to Xena's statement, but then shifted into a sitting position as Jon and William walked in, Rose sitting on the bed next to Xena.

"So she just...woke up and broke down?" William wondered, kneeling beside the still-hysterical AJ. Motioning for Marley to move, she did so, getting up and sitting with the other girls as William slid in to take her place.

"It's fear, regret and anticipation as far as I can tell," Marley explained, equally confused as to why the older girl was like this.

Almost at once, AJ's grip tightened around him, nails digging into the thin undershirt he had on. William closed his eyes and clenched his jaw in frustration - what the hell had happened to her to make her this shattered?

"Girls, if you wouldn't mind stepping outside for a moment, I'd like to talk to her...Jon, follow them - I have a feeling your ability may come in some use tonight."

The others nodded, filing out of the larger bedroom, the group heading to the living room parlor, if only to watch something mindless.

* * *

Once in the parlor, Rose and Xena both gasped in surprise to see Brendon and Ryan still up, the two exchanging comments over the latest Final Destination movie.

"Girls." Jon called, stopping the two as they went to throw themselves into their mate's arms, "Come here. Stand still and look into my eyes, you both need to relax first."

Doing as they were told, neither was shocked when they suddenly felt completely calm, as though they'd been slipped numbing drugs.

"Damn. How'd you-"

"I can control emotions, which is why William wanted me around you guys...now go on, I'm gonna go check on him and Adeline, or on second thought, maybe I'll just go back to bed, he'll have things under control."

Rose and Xena both dove for their boy, not surprised to have been pulled into kisses. Finally released from them, they curled up and started all watching the movie. After being quiet for about ten minutes, Xena spoke.

"Hey Ryan?"

"Yeah babe?"

"I...I'm sick of being scared all the time. I hate it here...I keep thinking one of the vampires in this city is going to jump me and kill me one of these nights..." she admitted sheepishly.

Ryan sighed, "C'mon love, you're perfectly safe with us. We'll all protect you."

Brendon nodded in agreement, "Same for you, Rose. I love you, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Both girls looked at each other, NOW was the time to ask.

"Well...we don't really think," Rose began, "It's really making sure we're safe," Xena continued, "If we stay human." both said, grinning.

Ryan and Brendon exchanged a look.

"So..." Ryan was speechless, lost in the realization of what they were saying.

"You want us...to turn you two, right? Rose, you want me to bite you, make you like me, and for Ryan to do the same to Xena?"

Both nodded.

"Geez...talk about springing it on us...looks like William was right, you guys would want to be turned soon enough. Well, it's a good a night as any..."

Ryan looked at him, "Come on, Xena, my room's better than down here."

And as Ryan got up and carried Xena to his room so he could change her there, Rose looked at Brendon, a flirty smirk set on her lips.

"Don't think you're going anywhere, mister."

* * *

And while Xena and Rose had things happening to them, William was trying to figure out exactly why AJ had acted the way she had from a simple nightmare.

"Adeline...Adeline...love, look at me..." William pleaded as the girl continued to sob into him, though it seemed she hadn't heard him.

"What's got you all worked up, hm?" he tried, one hand rubbing her back trying to get her to stop shaking.

"This dream...I-it...it wasn't like the others! Th-the hunters...we all...they just...Amelia k-killed M-Marley! D-don't...don't let her die baby, she's...she's my b-best friend considering my old one turned into my enemy...and I just-" and there went any hope of calming her down.

He sighed.

"They're not going to hurt you darling, you're immortal - harder to kill than regular humans...that, and to even get to you they'd have to go through me. And they're not going to go through me. I promise."

She quieted at this, and lifted her head, eyes puffy, mascara running off her lashes. Thinking over what he'd said, she spoke.

"The hunters w-won't find it h-hard to kill us, that's what they d-do...and what M-Marley said...she said...she said Spencer told her he saw...well, you know his ability...and...they're...they're d-dead!"

The elder vampire's face went as pale as possible for a vampire at the mention of Spencer's ability. If he was seeing something, trouble had definitely arrived. Then again, it was a vision, so maybe there'd be time to change the course of events...

"How long ago did she say this? And why didn't he tell me himself?"

"I don't know...I heard her talking to Rose and Xena about it when I woke up...maybe he just didn't want to bother you with it? It's probably nothing...I mean, she mentioned it was about the Cobras, and the drummer from MCR...she said a lot of death happened..."

"Why people think it's alright to withhold information like that I'll never understand..." William mumbled, seemingly to himself before he added, "Meaning the hunters died, right? When you mention death, I mean..."

"Not exactly. She made it sound like he saw the Cobras all...slaughtered. And truth be told, I'm sick of all this fighting, the constantly wanting to kill, I just want this to end."

He didn't speak for a full three minutes, realization hitting him. The first conference week in twenty years and the first to die is one of the best bands I've ever been able to tour with. True, none of us may have been particularly close, but still...

"They'll be missed. They were a good band, the fans will mourn."

At this, Adeline froze, and pushed away from him, eyes wide with shock.

"How can you be...be so emotionless!? They were your friends! You toured with them! Gabe was like peanut butter to your jelly! If you knew the fanfics, the multitude of-"

"Gabilliam." William added, knowing full well what she was talking about.

"Yeah, but still! YOU DON'T JUST MOVE ON WHEN SOMEONE LIKE THAT DIES! It's not natural!"

"We're not natural, love."

"How the fuck are you that calm?!"

William almost smiled, now amused by Adeline's outburst. The last time her voice has raised this much in an argument was the morning after they'd first had sex.

"You get used to the concept of death after a while. Give it a few hundred years, you won't feel as bad."

"There you go again, distancing yourself. Go to hell." And she went to get up, to pull away from him, but found one arm around her waist, the other going to her hair.

"Ever consider my soul's already there? And for swearing...you know what's coming, don't you?"

She huffed, "I don't care. I don't fucking care anymore! William, I'm so fucking scared and sick of everything in this town! I want to go home! I don't want anyone else dying anymore - I want my friends back, I want the hallways of Barrington High back, I want my family back and I want my OLD LIFE BACK!" she screamed, voice shaky.

Before he knew what had happened she was kissing him, hands clawing against his chest, he knew there'd be scratch marks through the shirt.

He flipped them over, pinning her arms above her head with the hand that wasn't unbuttoning her sleep shirt.

"Love, I'm calm because I'm used to it. And if you want the killing to stop, we'll find a way. Let me calm you down tonight, and I'll fix everything in the morning, I promise."

"Really? A-" she gasped, eyes fluttering shut as she bit her lip, one of his hands ran down her body and instantly every touch felt electric.

"Really. Now sweetheart, just relax...let's get you in another state of being."

"High on sex?" she tried giggling.

"I wish you wouldn't word it like that, dear, but yes, something along those lines."


	19. Chapter 19

When Gerard and the rest of My Chem got back to the hideout, Patrick was typing like crazy on his computer, apparently lost in some task.

"What the hell are you doing? You're gonna break the computer typing that fast!" Ray said, grabbing for a Xbox controller as Bob flicked his wand to turn the TV on.

"Well, figured we'd do some background research, think of other ways for this to end - and I think it's best we all just wipe everyone's memories. Granted, that wouldn't change those of the girls that had been turned into vampires, but it'll at least keep them alive. Wait a minute, is she serious?!"

Onscreen was AJ's twitter, the heading changed to read 'Lady Adeline-Jeanette Beckett' with the background picture being her wearing the derby from the Sixteen Candles video, Beckett's cloak around her shoulders.

"That's-" Mikey started.

"Yeah, I know. Talk about blowing your cover!" David.

"People will probably think it's just another of her cosplays - she DID go as him for Anime Chicago one year, remember that?" Amelia added.

Myeong visibly cringed, "Yeah, She made me dye my hair...I had to go as Pete. That sucked...I mean, having to go with her, not that I had to be Pete, 'cuz he's one awesome motherfucker."

"You don't constantly have to bring up how awesome you think I am doll, I hear that enough at night when you'-" Myeong immediately slapped a hand over the bassist's mouth, "We get it. So...with AJ and all...why's it say that?"

"Shit. Take a closer look at her hand...does that look like a ring to you?"

"It's not real." Myeong threw out, laughing.

"But she is legal, law considered...and that profile does say her last name is Beckett now..." Pierre challenge.

"Yeah and?"

"Hey Patrick, do me a favor and bring up the Barrington High home page, I need to check my grades."

"Check your grades? Why would -"

"I just have a feeling."

And as soon as Myeong got to the homepage for their school, she went directly to esis and typed in AJ's info, wanting to 'check' her grades. To her surprise, a 404 message came up.

'I'm sorry, the requested information is not available at this time. Perhaps you have the wrong student?'

"What kind of bullshit is this? Try this again..." she clicked out and logged back in, and again the message popped up., "Hm, alright. I'll try Marley's stuff."

Again, same damn message.

"Hey Patrick, what the fuck is going on here?"

"I should have guessed...it's a typical Dandies thing, once they find their mates...looks like they've erased AJ and your other friends from your school records...it's likely they've adjusted records, William has access to that information, he can change it to make anything believable, so people believe the lies. It's safe to assume the Dandies think they've got your friends for the rest of their lives."

"Uh, no." Myeong protests the reveal, her hand grabbing to squeeze Pete's, as if his to tell her that explanation is a lie.

"There's gotta be some way to get them back," Amelia said, smiling as Seb had walked back into the room, a rather large bowl of what looked like chocolate ice cream in his hands, "Figured you'd want to share."

She laughed, "Yeah, that'd be great, but we're in the middle of-"

"Yeah, that whole thing with the records. I heard. Easiest way to fix that? Create a virus and take the system down. It can't be that hard, can it? Oh, and on a side note, Mikey and the rest of MyChem took down Cobra Starship, they're all dead."

Patrick laughed, "Well today's technology, anything's possible."

"So what's the plan, guys?" Chuck asked.

"Well, Patrick will create a virus to fix AJ and her Dandie friends' school records, and then Pete, Andy and Bob will wipe all your memories so this conference week is forgotten," Gerard explained, Myeong and Amelia reacting at once.

"WIPE OUR MEMORIES?!"

"It's for the best. You won't remember being hurt, that you've been involved in the fights. True, for Myeong and AJ and the other Dandie girls, it won't reverse them being turned,. but it'll keep you safe."

Amelia had immediately turned to hug Seb as tight as she could.

"But I don't want to forget you."

He smiled, kissing her hair, "Relax. If there's one thing I've learned from watching Doctor Who, it's that if something can be forgotten and one is convinced it doesn't exist, it can be remembered and will come back to life."

"Meaning-"

"If you manage to remember us," he started motion to himself and the other various band members within the room, "We'll be by your side the moment the memory calls us, dear. I promise."

By the time Patrick actually had thrown the virus into the system, he found he was able to access everyone's records and had restored them to normal.

"Well, now that that's done, what's left...besides the memory thing?" Myeong wondered three days later, being Pete had 'gone out' and she couldn't hang on him, she was bored.

"Well, Pete went to go find Beckett and talk to him, about possibly wiping the girls' memories and letting them go..." Chuck said, pausing as Myeong's eyes widened.

"THAT'S WHERE HE WENT?! THAT SON OF A BI-"

"There's no need to kill him quite yet," Joe added, "He knows how to keep himself alive. I'm sure AJ will keep Beckett from doing anything, besides." Little did he know, things weren't exactly going to go that smoothly.

* * *

AJ had calmed down that night, as William had promised to make her. The following morning, she'd spoken to the rest of the Dandies about her fears concerning herself and the other girls, and a plan was made, although not everyone agreed to it, with mainly the 'younger' Dandies disagreeing because they still believed blood should be spilled to exact revenge. And after the Cobras' recent deaths, nobody was really sure they still wanted conference weeks in the first place.

The next day he'd spoken to her about the plans, which for him, were a drastic change from the normal course of action the Dandies would have taken.

"Well, I've thought it over, what you said last night - and the easiest way to ensure everyone gets back to your hometown alive is if we do memory modifications. I can make it so you and the girls have no recollections of the fights that have occurred, only that you came to my city for a week or so of concerts and happened to hang out with the various bands present."

"But what about you guys being vampires?" she immediately asked, "And the fact that...y'know...I'm...not...human?"

He smiled wryly, "Well, that's not so much an easy fix, I figured I could make you and the other girls believe that Sixteen Candles video was really, that you, uh, 'found' some vampires of your own and there were hunters nowhere to be found."

"But with the memory wipe thing you're talking about...won't...won't I forget you?" and it almost like she was on the edge of tears.

"Not exactly, my love. I'll be around...in the music. And if things can be forgotten, they can be remembered. I'll love you - always. That'll never change. I turned you, we're apart of each other now."

"I still don't - wait, we can't go back, you guys screwed with our school re-"

"It would appear the hunters have fixed that for us, their techie sure knows his way around a virus panel."

AJ smiled, knowing it was solely Patrick that was doing the work, although some of the girls have to have helped him, having had had a habit of getting around the proxies at school to watch old FOB videos and go update YouTubes and Tumblrs daily during class from IPhones.

"So if I remember you? You'll return?" she asked, afraid to meet his gaze, fearing she'd start crying.

"I will." and with that he kissed her forehead, and suggested she go out on the town for a night with the girls, being he and the rest of the boys had wanted to go hunting.

Almost giggling at his impatience, she'd agreed, yelling for the rest of the girls to get ready.

When AJ had walked back up to her and William's room the next morning after having fallen asleep watching a movie with him in the living room/parlor (truthfully she spent have of it with her head buried into his neck, too scared to watch the movie), she found her IPod playing a familiar song (plugged into a speaker with the volume of on not quite full blast, but loud enough to be heard), and it really startled her when she saw the dress the IPod itself was sitting on.

Put it on And don't say a word

Put it on The one that I prefer

Put it on And stand before my eyes

Put it on Please don't question why

Depeche Mode's Blue Dress was playing, and AJ laughed when she looked at the dress itself. The dress was powder blue, with black ribbons and a matching headband for her hair. She shuddered as slipped out of her robe and undressed, stepping into the dress only to wince as it reached her shoulders, although she'd already healed.

Can you believe Something so simple

Something so trivial Makes me a happy man

Can't you understand Say you believe

Just how easy It is to please me

"Here, love, let me-" William had said, gently pulling up the shoulders, zipping the back after that had been done before tying the bow.

"There. You look beautiful. And we're going out today, I figured you needed something new. Because when you learn You'll know what makes the world turn..." he'd sang, knowing she would react.

"Baby, you know this song is-"

"About a fetish? Perhaps. But you do have to admit, blue is your color - you look more innocent, although we all know you're not," he added as she pouted.

"Oh come on. I was trying to make a point. And come now - I've been told how you get when you don't get coffee, this morning, before we do anything else I'm taking you to Starbucks."

"Baby I don't ne-" she protested, reaching for the tie he wore, mind already drifting to interpret the song, knowing she knew certain ways to cause the vampire to melt before her, before he moved away.

"Of course you do. Now come, we haven't got all day.'

"No, I've got the rest of forever." Adeline mumbled, surprised he hadn't heard as the two headed downstairs and out into the sunny Chicago morning, she already knowing where the nearest Starbucks was.

The moment Adeline and William stepped outside, she took off for the nearest Starbucks, not heeding his call for her to wait.

By the time he'd caught up with her (it was at the Starbucks they'd first met at after he'd sent her the dream, he realized with a smile) she had already placed her order at the counter and was about to pay for it, correcting the barista as he called it back to the others, making sure it was right.

When she finally turned to him, her smile dropped for a moment.

"Oh...love, did you want anything? I'm sorry, I sort of just...I need my caffeine, and-"

He silenced her with a knowing grin, "It's alright, dear. I have a feeling I'll get a high myself later, with the way you're inclined to keep me away from all my paperwork at night..."

"Oh?" she giggled, walking back towards him to rest her head on his shoulder, "You know I don't do that intentionally...you know you could always get up and walk away..."

"With the way you stretch out on that bed, batting your eyelashes and looking up just that way? Like I'm going to have the sanity left to even stand."

She rolled her eyes, motioning toward the table that was by the windows.

"Why don't you go ahead and sit, I'll get some bakery or something we can split, ok?" William nodded and went to go sit down, gaze wandering around the little coffee shop. He could have never began to understand just why Adeline had been so attracted to such a place, asides from the confusing set of smells and assorted small talk from the other patrons.

"Honey? You okay? You're blanking out….and here, it's blueberry scone." She explained, setting a small treat plate in front of him. At once he eyes widened.

"Scones. You know, I haven't had these in ages…I was turned in England when I turned twenty…day after my birthday, come to think of it. It's fuzzy, trying to remember that far back. By thankful you're only a few days old." He spoke, voice hushed.

She giggled, "Few days old? Please…I'm more controlled than Adam and the Butcher combined! And besides –" she scoffed, something in the air had changed, and she turned, voice smooth.

"Oh, hello, Peter. So nice of you to join us."

Instinctively, Fall Out Boy's bassist put his hands up in an 'I-surrender' motion.

"Look, I'm not here to start something. I'm here to talk. About…this whole thing, the conference."

"Good, so it seems the bite induced dreams still affect you," William commented, actually pulling up a chair to Adeline's displeasure.

"What? William, what is this? He's normally trying to kill you! He tried to KILL ME TWICE!"

The elder vampire only shrugged, put a finger to his lips.

"Adeline, settle. This is only because we have matters to settle. Your friends are involved just as much as you and I, you know. Or don't you remember them?" he wagered, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her onto his lap.

"I don't- I want that magician dead. Traitor. And My Chem got Cobra. That's not fair."

"Well, princess, life's not fair." Pete interjected, smiling mildly at how childish the girl was acting.

"And we're saving you all from yourselves. Peter here thinks it's best we wipe all your memories so you can go back home to Barrington and live normally."

"But I don't want to live normally…I want to be with you! And I'm a vampire for fuck's sake! How-"

She fell quiet at the look William gave her.

"It's not saying I'd never see you again. It's just in different circumstances, perhaps it would be on tour, not in the middle of conference week. I'll give you my cell phone number, that way you can reach me anytime."

Her eyes lit up, "I get to be your Girl Friday?!"

He ruffled her hair, "Yes, I suppose you would be then. Now, Peter, would you explains the terms in which we're modifying memories?…"

"Well, what Bob Bryar came up with is that we make them think they went to the concerts, and found out the sixteen candles video was real, explaining how some of them are vampires, but there's no hunters, make them forget about the fights. Then we just send them on their way…"

William nodded, "Fair enough. I'll see to it that my men are aware of the plan. When are we aiming to have such plans completed by?"

"This Friday, we've booked the girls a coach bus back home, you should get Adeline and her friends the same, or –"

"I'll see that they're all home safe, I assure you. Now, if you'd excuse us, Adeline and I were in the middle of a rather enjoyable early-afternoon date."

Pete nodded, getting up, "And Beckett? You're welcome. For not killing the girl when I had the chance."

And with that, he walked out of the Starbucks and back to the base.

When the day had ended, Beckett, Pete, Bob and Andy wiped each of the girls' memories as was planned, and prepared them to go home. Although it had been a hassle having them involved in the conference week, all the boys could admit they would miss the group. But nobody knew that there were other plans…


	20. Epilogue

_We're crashing cars we used to share_

_With summer girls With summer hair_

_We're driving around chasing the stars_

_But the party's busted up Before it ever starts_

When the entire group made it back to Barrington, the weeks flew by and everyone couldn't wait to graduate. As the girls one by one found their way across the stage, they failed to notice some VERY familiar faces at the back of the auditorium. By the time had shrugged off their gowns and thrown their caps, the party had already started out on the football field. Both AJ and Amelia smiled at the sight of Marley taking off toward the makeshift stage as the speakers blasted The Academy Is...'s Summer Hair = Forever Young.

_I'll never let you go Don't ever forget_

_Tell me you'll remember Forever young_

_I'll never let you fall It's not over yet_

_You and me forever Forever young_

_We're forever young_

"Marley! Slow down! We're all-" AJ stopped, blinking. Something about it made her think of Spring Break in Chicago, damn, had those concerts been fun! Everyone had had a good time, Myeong at Fall Out Boy, Rose and Xena at Panic! At The Disco, Amelia at My Chemical Romance and then Simple Plan...and then there had been herself and Marley at The Academy Is...and then again, how could she forget the first concert of Spring Break, when it had been her and Amelia at the barrier for Simple Plan?

_Stop making plans, start making sense_

_Don't you believe any word they said_

_Sparked up, sparked up like a book of matches_

_Falling through the night And rising from the ashes_

Suddenly, something sparked AJ's memory, somehow.

"I'll be around...in the music." She smiled, looking around, knowing it wasn't just the DJ club's hand-picked stereo blasting anymore. He HAD to be here, now that she'd remembered. He had to.

Turning back toward the stage, she gasped, there he was, standing on one of the guitar amps, Michael Guy Chislett and Mike Carden on either side of it, Sisky off somewhere to the side, Marley already in front of him, Butcher back at the drum set behind them.

"I KNEW YOU'D COME BACK!"

Amelia had watched AJ's face change, she had suddenly became sad, then almost attentive, scanning around for something, as if the music had triggered it. And then she too, remembered. Summer. Summer Paradise! Simple Plan had just recently released a new single for the summer and -

SIMPLE PLAN! The memories of the concert came flooding back to her, and then, if she thought hard enough...didn't she end up kissing the rhythm guitarist?

At the sound of a familiar laugh she turned, only to see who she never thought she'd see again walking towards her.

"You had to remember that kiss, didn't you? I'd told you we'd come running the moment your thoughts triggered. I kept that promise. Didn't I?" Seb asked, collapsing to the ground, holding Amelia as she tackled him into a hug. Amelia was crying by this point, but she didn't care.

_I'll never let you go Don't ever forget_

_Tell me you'll remember Forever young_

_I'll never let you fall It's not over yet_

_You and me forever Forever young_

_We're forever young_

Noticing who seemed to be showing up,Myeong immediately began humming Sugar We're Going Down, not surprised to throw herself into Pete's arms seconds later.

_Don't come any closer Don't tell me it's over_

_Don't kiss me goodbye Here we are, am I taking this too hard?_

_Don't say that it's easy The hardest part is leaving_

_Don't you wonder why... Suddenly, we're all running out of time_

Rose and Xena looked on, regretting their immortality, not having anyone to share the endless nights with, a single line from Northern Downpour coming to mind. 'Count your headaches, call it home,' both girls sang, each startled by the resulting welcome back and remember me yells they'd heard as none other than Panic! at the Disco came into their field of vision.

_I'll never let you go Don't ever forget_

_Tell me you'll remember Forever young_

_I'll never let you fall It's not over yet_

_You and me forever Forever young_

"This is long from over. That Spring Break was the best! How did you guys not forget us? And how are people not seeing all of-" Rose started, only to have Brendon kiss her to cut her off.

"There's only us, there's only this, forget regret, or life is yours to miss." Ryan stated, quoting an old 90's musical, RENT.

"That still doesn't-" Xena continued.

"What does it matter?" Pete added, before Pierre cut in, "We've all found each other, and we've all better start gearing up because you guys all know what this summer means-"

By this point William had jumped offstage, thrown an arm around AJ's shoulder and walked over to see what everyone was talking about, "Three months, no showers, the heat."

"The crowds, the outdoor tents, bus world," Gerard added.

All of the girls shared a look, "WARPED TOUR?!"

_"We're forever young..."_

"And you guys are all invited, to be tour assistants and street team promoters and the like," Frank continued, "Seeing as we got along so well at the concerts this break, we figured we'd-"

_"We're forever young..."_

"Keep you around a while." Seb finished for the group, kissing the top of Amelia's head, "None of us wanted to be playing out there every night knowing you guys were having a boring summer, y'know?"

Everyone nodded, and AJ looked at William, "Yeah, I get it, but...baby, can we finish the song first?"

He turned to look at the rest of the guys, still onstage, final bars of the song yet to be played, "'Course, doll, C'mon, you can sing."

And with that, AJ bounded onstage, grabbed William's microphone, and yelled to the others. AS the rest of TAI started playing again, AJ realized her senior year - the group had been brought closer together than ever. And as she sang, "We're forever young..." The words hit the group of girls like all the memories had, and for a moment, the girls that had been with the Dandies all looked at each other, and Myeong had nodded in agreement.

" _We're forever young._  And nothing is going to tear our groups apart - because judging by who's around, we're all going to be seeing a lot more of each other on the road come tour season!"

And none of the girls could help smiling as the camera flashed for the yearbook's after-party picture.


End file.
